Al Ali breaking new ground for Emiratis in triathlon

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  • The UAE’s Mohsen Al Ali.

    The UAE’s Mohsen Al Ali gave the home crowd something to cheer for as he placed first in his category and seventh overall in the Age Group Olympic distance amateur race on Saturday at the ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi.

    Al Ali, who became the first Emirati to complete an Ironman when he raced in Wisconsin last year, clocked 2:10:20 to top the 30-34 age group category but admits he could have done better.

    “I’m really happy with today’s race even though I’ve been sick, I’ve been struggling with a backache and headache but I had a good preparation,” Al Ali told Sport360.

    “This is not my best time, I know I can do better, but still it was great to compete like this at home.”

    Al Ali works with the police and started taking part in small triathlon events six years ago.

    Last year, he pulled off his biggest accomplishment to date by doing a full ironman in Madison, Wisconsin, and it served as a springboard for him as he now has his sights on tougher goals.

    “Competing in the ironman gave me endurance and stamina and it raised my level and now I can really be competitive in these age group races. I have much bigger goals though. I wish to be a professional triathlete but I need to be more organised,” he explains.

    “We don’t have a federation yet for the sport in the UAE but I believe soon we will. I’m sure they’ll do it. We even have female Emiratis competing here now. So it’s increasing in popularity.”

    Emirati Olympian, Obaid Al Jasmi, a 34-year-old swimmer, was delighted to have completed the Olympic distance race as part of the first ever UAE competitive triathlon relay team alongside 35-year-old cyclist Badr Ali Thani from Dubai and runner, 26-year-old Khalifa Al Nuaimi from Fujairah.

    “The weather conditions were perfect and the atmosphere was really thrilling. We feel very proud to compete in this race as part of an all-Emirati team in our home country,” said Al Jasmi.

    In the elite men’s race, Jordanian Lawrence Fanous flew the flag for the Arab region as he eyes a spot in this year’s Rio Olympics.

    Fanous, who competes for the Alameda O.N Tri Team, placed 50th in the elite event, clocking 1:51:31 and says he’s still regaining his top form having had a difficult 2015.

    “This was more of a bonus race. I had a really bad year last year, I had a lot of crashes and problems, mechanical problems, collapsing at the Asian Championships, so I didn’t collect many points so I came into this year a long way behind from normal,” said the 31-year-old Fanous.

    “I wasn’t actually sure if I was going to do Abu Dhabi because I was just waiting on the wait list, I only got in on Monday. I was ready to do it but I was also ready to look forward anyway. I’m not quite ready yet. I’m heading to Australiatomorrow to carry on the Road to Rio. I’m there training for a month and hopefully that’ll bring me on again and I’ll be good by the end of March.”

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