It made for a great picture, a great headline and a pretty great story too last year at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. All through the course, the world’s leading triathletes, the Brownlee brothers, hung by each other, having built up a comfortable lead on the rest of the field.
By the time of the 10km-run, they were five minutes ahead of the rest and had zero seconds between them. Neither one kicked on, despite Alistair looking more haggard than Jonny.
Instead, as the final few metres approached, the brothers unfurled a Yorkshire flag and crossed the line together, a nice choreographed touch to proceedings. It is something they had done before, even on tour events, which Abu Dhabi at the time was not.
At an invitational, or exhibition event, even in as gruelling a discipline as the triathlon, the gesture did not feel out of place.
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But at a competitive event, with points at stake? It is unlikely to be repeated this year, however, and not only because Alistair may not be at the event. This year the Abu Dhabi Triathlon is not an exhibition event — it is the opening race of the International Triathlon Union’s (ITU) World Series.
It will be the first of ten races through the year, across the world in Auckland, the Gold Coast, Cape Town, London and Chicago among others and a vital first step for triathletes beginning preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
As it turns out, the plan all along in Abu Dhabi was to graduate the triathlon from an exhibition event to a formal part of the circuit.
“Our strategy was always to make this a tour event, that is a target of Abu Dhabi always for any event,” said Talal Al Hashemi, the technical affairs director at the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC). It is ADSC who have taken over the running of the event from Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, which had run it, with success, for the last five years.
The agreement with the ITU is to stage the event here for the next five years. As much as it is an opportunity for Abu Dhabi to showcase its potential as an international outdoor sporting venue, it is also a strategic step outward by the ITU.
Abu Dhabi will not only become the first venue in the Middle East to host an official ITU event, it will also be, after Yokohama, only the second venue in all of Asia to do so.
“It is very important to us that everyone around the world has the opportunity to compete in triathlons,” an ITU spokesperson said. “Abu Dhabi is integral in the sport’s expansion in the Middle East because of its location and its resources.
The ability to host an international sporting event outside of an indoor arena, Al Hashemi pointed out, was also important for Abu Dhabi. And though the question of climate comes up every year the triathlon comes to town, March has always provided near-ideal conditions.
“The weather and time of year is very important in when we can organise a triathlon,” the ITU spokesperson said. “It’s quite complicated to fit eight to 10 races into the year with varying weather patterns.
“We also have to consider giving athletes ample off-season to recover and train. That said, March was an ideal time for athletes to do an early sprint race to test their winter training, and traditionally hasn’t been so hot in that time of year that it would be dangerous for athletes.”
The switch has been seamless, with cosmetic changes to the nature of the course the only aspect people are likely to notice. It has been redesigned, in line with ITU logistical requirements, to make it more spectator-friendly.
More than before, when it stretched to as far as the Yas Marina circuit, the entire race will be centred around the Corniche. Participation remains as high — 600 triathletes, including the world’s best, from outside the UAE will take part and nearly 1600 altogether. And it is unlikely there will be a joint winner.
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