KARACHI: Pakistani athletes were also among roughly 3,000 competitors who completed the full-distance “IRONMAN Canada-Ottawa” triathlon event on August 2, one of the most demanding one-day endurance events in the sport.
Designed for both first-time and experienced competitors, IRONMAN OTTAWA features athletes complete a 3.8-kilometer swim in open water, ride 180 kilometers on a bicycle and run a 42.2-kilometer marathon in the Canadian capital. Athletes have to complete the total course, spanning a distance of 226 km, (140.6 miles) in a cut-off time of 17 hours.
Taimur Ghaznavi finished the triathlon in 14 hours and 43 minutes. He completed the swim in 1 hour and 35 minutes, the bike ride in 6 hours and 42 minutes and ran the complete marathon in 6 hours and 5 minutes.
“It all started with a conversation on a tennis court,” Ghaznavi said in a statement issued to the media. “A casual discussion somehow turned into me signing up for IRONMAN Ottawa.”
The second Pakistani athlete, Fauzia Hemani-Madhani, finished the triathlon in a total 15 hours, 23 minutes and 35 seconds, reported local news organization Geo. This was the fourth time that the Canada-based athlete completed an IRONMAN triathlon.
She had previously completed the IRONMAN competitions in 2021, 2024, and 2025.
Ghaznavi said it was his first full-distance race.
“The greatest achievement wasn’t hearing the words, ‘You are an Ironman.’ It was realizing that the limits I thought I had never really existed,” he added.
Full-distance racing remains uncommon among Pakistani athletes, in part because IRONMAN holds no full-distance event in Pakistan. Competitors travel abroad to race, most often to Türkiye, the UAE, Oman and Southeast Asia, where certified courses are within reach.
In April, Rayan Habib Ahmed, a 19-year-old from Karachi, finished IRONMAN Texas in 15 hours, 20 minutes and six seconds, and said afterward on Instagram that he was the youngest Pakistani to complete the distance.
Pakistani athletes have also raced at the shorter IRONMAN 70.3, which covers half those distances. In it, athletes have to cover the total distance of 70.3 miles (113 kilometers) across three continuous disciplines: a 1.2-mile (1.9 kilometer) swim, a 56-mile (90 kilometer) bike ride and a 13.1-mile (21.1 kilometer) run
Khurram Khan became the first Pakistani to compete at the 70.3 World Championship at Taupō, New Zealand, in 2024, finishing in five hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds.
Sana Arif, who is based in Kuwait, has completed three 70.3 races, twice at Antalya and once in Bahrain, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported last year.
