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Source:
www.mindef.gov.sg |
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The Seventh Annual Singapore Biathlon |
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- Attracting Biathletes
Worldwide |
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Swim and run enthusiasts gathered at the
East Coast Park (Singapore) today for the seventh annual Singapore
Biathlon. |
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Regarded as Singapore's and South-East
Asia's premier and largest Olympic-standard biathlon, close to 2,000
competitors participated in event. |
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Jointly organised by SAFRA National
Service Association, Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and
Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the Singapore Biathlon has been
growing in popularity and prestige each year. |
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This year's, foreign participation has
increased by more than two-fold as compared to last year. |
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These 263 participants hail from
countries as far as USA, UK, France and Australia, to our
neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Some even flew in especially for this event. |
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The course for today's event took
athletes over a challenging 1.5km swim into the sea, before a
final 10km run to the finish. Participants could choose from six
categories, namely, Men's Open, Men's Veteran, Women's Open,
Women's Veteran, Corporate Team Challenge and "SAF Invitation". |
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It is an event catered for individuals
who seek to test their endurance, families who seek to bond with
one another, and corporate groups who are out to foster their own
esprit de corp. Most importantly, Singapore Biathlon promises safe
fun for all! |
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Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee,
Minister of State for Defence and President of SAFRA, officiated
the event. A/P Koo flagged-off the Men's Open category and
presented prizes to winners of the both the Men's and Women's Open
categories. Winners walked away with over 10,000 worth of prizes. |
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"The popularity of endurance sports in
Singapore is increasing. Singapore Biathlon, now in its 7th year,
has been receiving a steady increase in participants. This year
alone, participation rate grew by more than 11% compared to last
year. In particular, international participation grew
significantly by 171%. These numbers may not look big but in the
world of endurance sports, it is a notable achievement", said
Assoc Prof Koo. |
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In conjunction with Singapore Biathlon
2007, the RSN also organised Navy Sprint Challenge (NSC) to
promote cohesion within the Navy family. Chief of Navy
Rear-Admiral (RADM) Ronnie Tay also presented cheques totalling
over $170,000 raised by RSN personnel and NSmen for 10 charitable
organisations. |
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At the event, participants and
supporters were entertained by cheerleading performances and other
live performances. There were also numerous food and merchandise
outlets set up to allow participants and their supporters to chill
out after the race. |
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Singapore Biathlon 2007 is sanctioned
by Triathlon Association of Singapore. |
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Jointly released by MINDEF and SAFRA |
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Source:
www.mindef.gov.sg News
Release 17 Mar 2007 |
Seventh Annual Singapore Biathlon
