Spectacular starlist at the Beijing Challenge
El Challenge Beijing returns to the international scene with a group of top-level athletes ready to compete in the Olympic distance test this weekend.
With $ 100,000 in prizes, The event attracts 1,000 age-group and professional triathletes from China and around the world, ready to compete in both Olympic and sprint distances.
A Mix of Olympic and Middle Distance Pros
Among the favourites in the women's category is the Canadian Paula Findlay, runner-up in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship and recent winner of the Ironman 70.3 in Mont-Tremblant.
Findlay to face Swiss Julie Derron, Olympic silver medalist, as well as other prominent triathletes such as the British Lucy byram, the Australian Ellie Salthouse and the New Zealander Amelia Watkinson.
In the men's category, there will also be an interesting mix of specialists in drafting races and long-distance events.
The New Zealander Kyle Smith, second in the PTO world rankings, arrives as one of the big favourites after his runner-up finishes in the T100 in San Francisco and London.
Among his main rivals will be the German Frederik funkThe Australian Aaron Royle and American Marc Kubrick.
In addition, the Olympians Henri Schoeman (South Africa) and Tyler Mislawchuk (Canada) will put their cycling skills to the test in this draft-free race.
A Spectacular Setting for the Race
The event will be held in Yanqing District, which hosted the alpine skiing, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
El Beijing Exhibition Park, with an area of 50,000 square meters, is located in the southwest of Yanqing, about 74 km from the city center.
With the Gui River and Haituo Mountain Range as a backdrop, the mountain and lake landscape provides a spectacular setting for the triathlon event.
Follow the test live
The professional race will begin at 7:30 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, which corresponds to 7:30 p.m. EST on Saturday and 1:30 a.m. in Spain (peninsular time) on Sunday.