Triathlete Arwa Al-Amoudi racing to raise awareness of growing sport

In Saudi Arabia triathlon may be a relatively new sport — or three sports in one — but it’s quickly catching on in a country where people are increasingly encouraged to shed a sedentary lifestyle and take up physical activities.

There’s no better promotor for the sport, among females and males, than Arwa Al-Amoudi, head of the women’s committee at the Saudi Arabian Triathlon Federation, and a triathlete herself.

“I started triathlon in 2017. Before that, I used to be a runner. I was the kind of person who would overtrain myself, and then I would get injuries,” she said. “But when I heard about the sport of triathlon, you know you have to swim, cycle and run, I said, okay, let me try it. And that’s the reason I tried triathlon from 2017, and then I got hooked on it. Just because of its diversity, you never get bored, every day you have different training in different sports.”

While running remains her strongest discipline, Al-Amoudi has now embraced all aspects of the triathlon.

“Actually, each one of them gives me a different kind of enjoyment,” the 35-year-old Jeddah resident said. “But if we’re talking about specifics, I would say it (running) is the easiest for me to improve, just because I have a longer history in it, years of running. Not only that, but also my body build, I tend to be petite and small, so it’s just easier for me to get faster and faster relative to people who are bigger in shape and density.”

Arguably, swimming is the hardest of the three sports to excel at for most newcomers.

“I would agree with that,” said Al-Amoudi. “Swimming I would say, if the person doesn’t have that basic foundation, from a younger age, it would be a bit harder to develop at an older age. But here we are, I started