ABU DHABI // Aqbal Malallah showed it is never to late start take up triathlon as the 48-year-old Kuwaiti mother of three completed the sprint distance of the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon in what was only the second time she had attempted the event.
Malallah had only been competing for the past year and was one of eight Kuwaiti women to complete the sprint course of 750m swim, 50km cycling and 5km run yesterday.
"I have got my three sons to the universities and retired from my job, and now I have time to venture to a new sport to keep myself fit and healthy," Malallah, who completed the race in two hours and 25 minutes, said. "I have participated in a triathlon back home and this is only the second time.
"The sport is picking up in Kuwait and there are three clubs exclusively for triathletes. I decided to join them to train from last year and my husband has been very supportive.
"I was doing a lot of walking and also practice yoga. I used that fitness to train for triathlon."
The third staging of the event drew a record 1,855 entries from 62 countries, including the strongest line-up of professionals in the elite division for men and women.
Among them were also Torben Gregersen from Denmark and his German wife, Stefanie, who is an airline pilot for Icelandic Airways. They participate in triathlon events as a hobby and as a way to travel to new destinations.
"We have been in the sport for six years and enjoy the competition," said Gregersen, who finished 10th over the short course comprising of 1.5km swim, 100km cycling and 10km run. His wife took fifth place over the sprint distance.
An Abu Dhabi team running under the banner of Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA) took first place in the sprint relay.
Othman Mistawi did the swim stage while Bader Al Hammadi and Yasine Amri tackled the cycling and running stages respectively.
"It is also our first time and we were competing to present our work for the CNIA," said Amri, who has previously participated in 5km, 10km and half marathons in Dubai.
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
