28 NATIONS SET FOR JORDAN TRIATHLON

The international flavour for the weekend’s 2017 Aqaba ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup has been revealed with triathletes from 28 countries confirmed.

Held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, President of the Jordan Olympic Committee, it will be the biggest sporting event staged in Aqaba since the 2006 ITU Triathlon World Cup, and it will attract 125 of the continent’s best.

As well as the main event consisting of the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run, a Duathlon will include a 5km run, 20km bike and and another 2.5km run.

Final preparations will be revealed at the press conference held by the Jordan Triathlon Association on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Jordanian team is training hard ahead of Friday’s race.

"This is a world-class field so it will be a tremendous test for our athletes,” said Ammar Al Sattari, Jordan Team Manager, who added that 15 Jordanians are entered in the various races including Olympian Lawrence Fanous and promising prospects Kareem Othman,Firas Al Hmoud and Yazeed Khurma.

The Association is also hopeful that the profile brought to the Kingdom by hosting this event will help to boost the sport here.

"It will be great to spread the sport across Jordan and encourage more people to take up the sport," added Al Sattari.