Our Correspondent Bahawalpur
The All Pakistan Triathlon Competition 2021 was organised in Bahawalpur, participated by 552 triathletes representing all provinces including Azad Kashmir & Gilgit Baltistan, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement released on Sunday.
The military’s media wing said triathletes from different government departments, Pakistan Army, civil armed forces, students of colleges and universities, professional athletes from Pakistan Triathlon Federation and Athletics Federation of Pakistan enthusiastically participated in the grand event.
“The competition comprised three sports events, which included 300m swimming followed by 20km cycling and 10km cross-country running in the end,” it added.
“Sohail Amir was declared the best athlete in open category by completing the competition in 1 hour 15 minutes and clinched gold medal, whereas Muhammad Bilal and Amir Abbas achieved second and third positions, respectively,” the ISPR maintained.
The communique further stated that cultural delegates and floats from Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir were the highlight of the ceremony. “The Pakistan Punjab Rangers displayed mesmerising rifle drill during the ceremony,” it added.
“Corps Commander Bahawalpur Lieutenant General Khalid Zia, was the chief guest while Olympian Shahbaz Senior was the special guest of honour on the occasion,” the statement further read.
The ISPR said that corp commanders distributed medals and prizes among the winners. A large number of notable dignitaries including Olympian Arshad Nadeem, hockey coach Khwaja Junaid, mountaineer Saima Baig and Olympian boxer Asghar Changezi attended the ceremony.
Presidents of Pakistan Tri-Athletics Federation, Athletics Federation of Pakistan, Pakistan Sports Board were also present on the occasion.