Vietnam will welcome its first 5150 Triathlon series, which is the largest Olympic distance triathlon series in the world, on Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang Province on November 20, according to the organizer.

The 5150 Triathlon series was introduced by the IRONMAN Group, a sports event promotion company based in the U.S., in 2011.

Its name inspired by the combined distance of 51.50km participants must complete, including 1.5km swimming, 40km cycling, and 10km running, during the event.

This format is also known as the Olympic distance triathlon since its debut in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

The 5150 Triathlon Phu Quoc’s athletes will start their journey by swimming a single-loop triangular 1.5km course in the beautiful waters of Bai Truong.

After the swim, athletes will take a two-loop 40km ride on smooth tarmac heading counter-clockwise toward the southern part of the island before looping back and heading north to complete one loop.

In the final-run leg, athletes will have to finish a two-loop 10km beachside run course.

The organizer expects to welcome about 400 athletes from 34 different nations during the inaugural event on November 20.

Among them is Lam Tuc Ngan, the only Vietnamese athlete who qualified for the IRONMAN World Championship, which comprised 3.8km of swimming, 180km of cycling, and 42.2km of running, in Hawaii last month.

Ngan said at the press conference of the tournament on Monday morning that she carefully prepared her physical strength and tactics to be able to participate in the event.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!