IRONMAN 70.3 Astana triathlon underway in Kazakh capital
President of the Kazakhstan Triathlon Federation Karim Massimov opened the tournament on Sunday morning.
In his opening remarks, Massimov noted that the tournament is held in the CIS space for the first time and coincides with the 20th anniversary of Astana, which is an amazing gift to the Kazakh capital.
He also drew attention of those present to the fact that this is the first time the record number of Kazakhstanis - 600 people take part in the tournament.
Over 1,300 athletes from 47 countries of the world have registered for the triathlon, including Olympic champion and Majilis deputy Serik Sapiyev, Olympic champion and general manager of Astana Pro Team Alexander Vinokurov, Astana Pro Team rider Assan Bazayev, athlete and leader of Another You! Challenge Valikhan Ten as well as Thomas Dreher, the man who completed in the triathlon 33 times.
The triathlon in Astana includes swimming challenge in the Ishim River (1.9km distance), a bike ride (90 km distance) and a running challenge (21.1 km distance).
50 qualification slots will be up for grabs at the world championship in South Africa (September 1-2, 2018). It should be noted that usually only 30 qualification slots are allotted for winners in Europe.