A year full of success

The Bahrain Endurance 13 (BE13) team has amassed collectively five world championships among the 45 wins in 2019, making it the most successful year yet.

Five years ago, His Highness Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, His Majesty the King’s Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, National Security Advisor and Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Affairs (SCYS) Chairman, had a vision to establish the Bahrain Endurance 13 Team as world title contenders. He did this in the hopes of providing a culture of health, wellness, and endurance sporting excellence to the Gulf region and beyond.

In 2019, the team locked down the world titles for triathlon, long-distance triathlon, paratriathlon, Ironman 70.3 and Ironman; truly becoming a force to be reckoned with in endurance sport.

Hot off his triumph in February as Super League Triathlon series champion, Vincent Luis proceeded to have a breakthrough year on the World Triathlon Series circuit to clinch the top spot in the world rankings. He became the first Frenchman to hold the title of ITU triathlon world champion since the series format began in 2009. He also broke a six-year Spanish stranglehold on the title (Javier Gomez 2013-2015, Mario Mola 2016-2018).

After winning the ITU Grand Final in Lausanne, Lauren Parker claimed her first paratriathlon world champion title to cap what has been a dominating year in only her second full season of racing in adapted sport.

Jan Frodeno scored his third Ironman World Championship title and scorched the Kona course with a new record of 7:51.13, finally laying to rest the demons and doubt from his 2018 injury.

Kona was also where Alistair Brownlee raced his first full Ironman (having qualified at Ironman Cork where the swim had been cancelled). Brownlee won Ironman Western Australia, breaking the previous course record by six minutes and booking an early ticket back to Kona 2020.

Daniela Ryf raced a tough course and a highly competitive field at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice. She came away with the win and an historic fifth Ironman 70.3 world championship title. Though in Kona she could not defend her title and fought through illness to cross the finish line, at that point the Swiss star had already had a remarkable year with two regional Ironman championships (North America and Europe) under her belt.

Holly Lawrence battled Ryf for the Ironman 70.3 world title, but while she settled for second she had pushed her teammate to perform at peak. The British athlete also claimed four Ironman 70.3 regional championships in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Gomez has been racing the ITU circuit all year and is gunning for Olympic selection for the Spanish triathlon team. He took the long-course skills and fitness earned from racing Ironman last year and put it towards winning the ITU Long Distance World Championship.

Ben Kanute made his mark this year successfully racing a wide range of distances from Super League Triathlon all the way to Ironman 70.3. He won Ironman 70.3 Oceanside, is currently ranked eighth in the Super League Triathlon series and was also part of the Team USA mixed relay that placed bronze at the Olympic test event in Tokyo.

Ashleigh Gentle successfully defended her Noosa Triathlon title for the sixth consecutive time and historic seventh win. Vicky Holland placed third in the Tokyo test event and was the top-placed British athlete after Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown were disqualified for crossing the finish line in first holding hands. Terenzo Bozzone had overtaken Gomez at the ITU Long Distance World Championships to be first off the bike, ultimately finishing seventh. David Plese placed second at the Ironman North American championship and qualified for Kona for the fourth consecutive year since he joined the team. And finally, His Highness Shaikh Nasser made a comeback to racing, signing up and finishing his home race Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship Bahrain on four weeks’ notice.

Now Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games as well as Ironman are  in the team’s sights. The goals are lofty; the vision remains the same.

For further information on the team, visit - www.bahrainendurance13.com