Over 600 athletes from Hyderabad and other parts of the country participated in the fourth Hyderabad Triathlon organised by the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC) at Gachibowli Stadium on Sunday.
Four categories
The event, conducted in four categories (Novice, Sprint, Olympic and Half-iron), attracted athletes from all walks of life, including competitors from the A.P. Police, notably Additional DG, Sports, Rajiv Trivedi, who completed Olympic Triathlons, consisting of 1.5 km swim, 40 km cycling and a run of 10 km.
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The toughest event (Half-iron), which included swimming (1.9 km), cycling (90 km) and running (21.1 km) attracted 40 athletes.
National athletes
The national athletes who participated in the Half-iron event included Madhurjya Borah, Richard McDowell and Sunil Menon.
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A special Para Triathlon Olympic Relay event for physically challenged athletes was held, in which Aditya Mehta, an above-knee amputee, cycled; Kiran Kanojia, a below-knee amputee, ran and Srinivasa Naidu, an above-knee amputee, swam in sequence to complete the Olympic Level Team Triathlon.
GHAC founder director Diyanat Ali said the Hyderabad Triathlon had acquired a national footprint.
“It is India’s biggest open Triathlon event, and we had more than 150 participants from across the country, a good indication of the event’s popularity,” he said.
Event director Deepam Moraparia said the Triathlon had no winners as it was meant only to test the endurance of the participants.
“There were 100 spot registrations which reflected the growing awareness about health and fitness among the public.
“The next Hyderabad Triathlon will have full iron-level and preferably in an open lake for swimming,” he said.