JEDDAH, 2 November 2004 — A team representing the Arab world will fly to Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 5 to participate in the “Red Bull Giants of Rio” team relay event.

The competition will witness the challenge of 80 teams from 30 countries from around the world.

The Arab team will be facing athletic figures and national heroes in four different sports disciplines.

From the UAE, Mansour Abul Houl will challenge the Atlantic Ocean tides as he heads into a beach-breaking swim directly off the Copacabana Beach.

The UAE’s 1998 triathlon champion will have to swim around 3 km off the shoreline in the open sea before reaching the two jumps from the cliffs at about 4 m high.

On the mountain bike, Maxime Chaaya from Lebanon will go for a distance of 45 km, through the narrow streets of the old town of Rio de Janeiro, up to Corcovado (704 m above the sea), then downhill into the jungle of the National Park.

Chaaya has a long list of local and international participations in MTB competitions. He clinched the podium at Kenya International Sports Safari for two consecutive years (2000-2001).

Besides, his greatest achievements are climbing 12 of the highest mountains in the world such as the Mount Blanc in France in September 2001 and, more recently, Mount Cho Oyo in Tibet in December 2003, where he hoisted the Lebanese flag at 8,201 m.

When it comes to the sand running, Lahcen Ahansal will race his competitors along the beaches and the streets of Ipanema and Copacabana.

The variation between sandy, concrete and asphalt conditions underfoot over the course requires an adaptable endurance runner.

Lahcen seems to have no problem with those facts, as he has retained the champion title of the “Sand Marathon” in Morocco for seven consecutive years until now.

Ibrahim Khalofeh of Saudi Arabia, the short distances runner and member of the Triathlon Saudi National Team will join Lahcen.

Khalofeh competed in several international events, such as Abu Dhabi International Military Triathlon in 2002 and the British International Triathlon in 2003.

Hailing from France Laurent Thevenot, 20, will join the Arab team as a speed hang-glider who will face extremely demanding conditions especially at the starting location, down to landing point at Ipanema.

The event promises to be a challenge in terms of physical and mental demand, as also an extraordinary experience set among the magic sites of the cultural melting pot, which is Rio de Janeiro.

“Red Bull Giants of Rio is the global RB event of this magnitude. For the first time, several countries are taking part in the creative process of an event that will not only consist of the competition in Rio but will affect the sports landscape worldwide by organizing national qualifier events,” Bassem El Zein, Red Bull Communication manager, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, said.