Olympic champ Blummenfelt lines up at Ironman Dubai

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Iroanman Dubai - a sold-out event featuring more than 2,500 participants, including nearly 100 elite professionals - headlines a packed schedule of sports events taking place in Dubai this weekend.

The two Iroanman Dubai defending champions - Swiss legend Daniela Ryf and Denmark’s Daniel Bakkegard - as well as the Tokyo Olympic men’s triathlon winner Kristian Blummenfelt will be in action on Saturday as some of the toughest athletes from around the globe take to the streets of Jumeirah for the event, which is supported by Dubai Sports Council and organised under the slogan "Anything is Possible”.

Iroanman Dubai is billed as a race that bridges the exotic with the luxurious, and, fast and flat, it also a gateway to brand new personal best times. Last year, Bakkegard set a new Dubai record with a time of 03:33:02, improving on Jan Frodeno’s 2016 time of 03:34:48, and there is every chance of that mark being rewritten on Saturday given the strong field.

Norwegian Blummenfelt, who made history in 2021 by becoming the first male triathlete to win the Olympic and World titles in the same year, is the world record holder for the 70.3 distance with a time of 3:25:21 (2019 Iroanman Middle East Championships in Bahrain), as well as the record holder for the 140.6 distance with a time of 7:21:12, and he could be fancying his chances of creating a new mark this weekend.