From Dubai to Doha: Middle East becomes new centre of professional triathlon

The salubrious venues for professional triathlon’s world series each have their own unique challenges. That much was obvious when the women’s season was decided in Qatar on Friday.

After Kate Waugh staggered over the line to become the women’s T100 Triathlon World Tour champion, she fell in a crumpled heap and vomited all over the floor.

Fair to say, the conditions had been testing. “I was so thirsty and I was actually a bit panicked because it was just a hot course,” Waugh said.

Hot, yes. Or, as residents of the Gulf term this time of year: winter.

The elite racers of the tour will have to get used to it. Like many other sports – the most obvious being the more sedate pursuit of golf – the region is fast becoming the home of pro triathlon.

Last year, the 100km race season reached its culmination in Dubai. Last weekend was the first of a five-year deal which will see the tour finale played out in Doha, known as the Race to Qatar. From next season, there will be a race in Saudi Arabia, too.

As part of a revamp of the schedule, which will see five men’s and women’s races each, rather than nine, there will be a stop in Jeddah next November. That will be a male-only race, while the leading female triathletes will be racing in Dubai that same month.

Britain's Kate Waugh, left, and Hayden Wilde of New Zealand celebrate their T100 world title wins in Qatar. Getty Images

In July, SURJ, the sports investment company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, penned a deal reportedly worth $40 million with the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO).

The stated aim is to help professionalise the sport, boost mass participation, and position Saudi Arabia as a host for future endurance events. All of which is in keeping with the country’s Vision 2030 goals for active lifestyles.

“They’re investing in us for financial reasons because they believe they get a good financial return, but it’s also to drive participation and healthy outcomes within the Saudi population,” Sam Renouf, the chief executive of the PTO, said.

“Triathlon is elitist in that is hard to do, [but] if you break it down into swimming, cycling, and running, these are three of the most accessible sports in the world to pick up. That's why the adoption has been so fast.

“So the first answer is a consumer one; there's a really pent-up demand for it, with the market here. The second is more about support at the government level for sports. And that's not just financial.”

Last month, the Dubai race finished in Meydan, with the finish line framing a backdrop of Burj Khalifa and the city’s skyline.

“Everyone jumps to ‘there's lots of money in the Middle East and that's why sports are here’,” Renouf said.

“But for us, money is only one component of being able to deliver a great event. It's really around approvals and permits and rights to be able to do things.

“It's a fairly obvious point, but we're not a stadium-based sport where we can just be in a venue and we don't impact the community and you just come and go.

“Our ability to put on great events and take the sport further is very much predicated on being given the permission to put on the events in exciting, iconic locations that are beautiful to look at and inspire people.”

Renouf also suggested there could be a lasting trickle-down effect. He thinks it is possible for a product of the region to become an elite racer in the future.

It seems a long way off. Almost all of the leading competitors in the T100 fields – which have 20 racers in each of the men’s and wom