ABU DHABI // It took Olivier Godart less than two hours to cover the Olympic division distance at Tri Yas yesterday.
In all, more than 900 people took part yesterday in the race's second edition around the grounds of the Formula One circuit on Yas Island.
Godart, from Luxembourg, was the winner in the Olympic division, which included a 1.5-kilometre swim, 40km ride and 10km run. He covered the distance in one hour, 57 minutes and 41 seconds.
He beat the Egyptian Olympic hopeful Omar Nour.
Nour, his country's first professional triathlete, also beat the two-hour mark, clocking 1 hr 59 min 58 sec.
Stefan Spies, from Germany, was third in 2 hr 7 min 4 sec.
The event also included a sprint distance: a 750-metre swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run to the finish line.
Forty-five relay teams took part, in a sign that people of all fitness levels are joining the event.
"The positioning of the event is to get first-timers into the sport," said Nick McElwee, the sales and marketing director at Yas Marina Circuit.
"We have seen really encouraging participation at all levels."
The oldest competitor was a woman aged 67, the organisers said. The oldest man was 63.
McElwee, 42, showed he was prepared to put his money where his mouth is by competing with a relay team in the Olympic discipline. It was his third such competition. "It is absolutely fantastic," he said. "The competition was great, the atmosphere was great."
vtodorova@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books