Faris Al-Sultan To Compete At Ironman South Africa

Tuesday, 24th January 2006

The defending World Champion will be at the start of Ironman South Africa in Port Elizabeth on March 19th. It is his first Ironman race since the World Championships in Hawaii. For the first time after five months of recovery and training, the German with Arabic roots will head out to complete the 226-kilometre distance. Why South Africa?

"I like the country and its history. Besides a new race always means a new challenge to me," says Al Sultan.

Al-Sultan won the Ironman World Championship title last October with a total time of 8:14:17. The 27 year-old Bavarian crossed the finish line about five minutes ahead of his competition. 2005 was a very successful year for Al Sultan. He won his first Ironman title at Ford Ironman Arizona in April.   Al-Sultan will face Ironman South Africa defending champion Raynard Tissink, last year's third place finisher Petr Vabrousek, along with Austrian's Werner Leitner and Gernot Seidl.

 Article Source:  IM South Africa for Ironmanlive.com on Thursday, 19 January 2006