Arafat steps up for Bangladesh in Ironman World Championship
2186 strong athletes from 93 countries participated in the Ironman World Championship, among them five participants represented Bangladesh. Four out of five Bangladeshi participants finished the race and one participant became sick after swimming and he was taken to hospital immediately.
Bangladesh's top Triathlete Ironman Arafat finished Ironman World Championship in Nice for the second time in two consecutive years. But this time he competed better against the best of the best Triathletes from around the world.
2186 strong athletes from 93 countries participated in the Ironman World Championship, among them five participants represented Bangladesh. Four out of five Bangladeshi participants finished the race and one participant became sick after swimming and he was taken to hospital immediately.
Arafat is the fastest Bangladeshi to finish the race. To earn the title Arafat clocked 11 hours 31 minutes and 08 seconds. Arifur Rahman took 13 hours 12 minutes and 23 seconds, Mishu Biswas finished in 13 hours 41 minutes 18 seconds, and Shubho De finished in 15 hours 28 minutes and 34 seconds.
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Arafat race number was 820, he took 1 hour 10 minutes 48 seconds to finish 3.8 KM swim then he started 180 KM cycling and it took him 6 hour 35 minutes 51 seconds to finish, after finishing cycling he started running 42.2 KM as known as a Marathon, he finished the marathon 3 hours 33 minutes and 2 seconds. In total he took 11 hours 31 minutes 08 seconds which resulted in him 129 place out of 222 athletes in his age group and 708 place in overall 1998 finishers out of 2186 starters.
He showed the example of tremendous willingness to step up the less popular sports in Bangladesh. He earned a lot for Bangladesh till now in global sports of Triathlon. His inspiring story has been recently featured as inspiring global stories in one of the top magazines of Triathlon-"Triathlon Magazine".
Two weeks ago he finished Ironman 70.3 world Championship for the 2nd time in Lahti, Finland. Before his proper recovery he challenged himself for a bigger challenge "Ironman World championship". Having such a result without proper infrastructure and support is really extraordinary!
He said, "It's a journey of being the best version of myself, I try to be better every day, I am improving this is my happiness. We have just started but we came a long way. I think there is no bar to becoming the best and I consider it a lifelong journey! I never competed against anyone, I just competed against myself in every single moment! I feel good when I see my country's flag flying in the world's top Triathlon stage! This is an insane feeling, it can't be expressed in words."
Arafat worked in Bangladesh Bank-The Central Bank of Bangladesh as Deputy Director. But, Arafat does sports as a hobby. But he excelled in triathlon through the process of personal improvement. He is the first Bangladeshi finisher of Ironman world championship and Ironman 70.3 world championship. This time he represented Bangladesh in a total of 4 world championship Ironman events.
He is going to participate in the Berlin Marathon as he dreams to finish 6 major marathons of the world.
His journey is sponsored by Apex Lingerie Ltd and Meghna Group of Industries. Nutri Plus Supporting him as a nutrition partner.
