Putin Hails ‘Strongest’ Ironman Contenders in First Russian Race

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, known for his macho sporting image, welcomed participants to his country’s first Ironman-series endurance race.

The event being held in Putin’s home city of St. Petersburg on Sunday includes swimming in the open water for 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles), a cycling stage of 90.1 kilometers, and a run of 21.1 kilometers, or a half marathon.

“It’s symbolic that this is the name also given to the winners of this spectacular, dynamic tournament in which only the fastest, strongest and most enduring can make it to the end,” the Russian leader said in a telegram published on the Kremlin website.

Putin, 68, a judo black belt and ice hockey fanatic, regularly burnishes his tough guy credentials. He’s been pictured riding horseback shirtless in Siberia, descending to the depths of the Black Sea in a submersible, shooting a tiger in the wild with a tranquillizer and piloting a fighter plane into war-torn Chechnya.

Ironman-series triathlons, often at double the distance of the St. Petersburg event, are held annually in dozens of countries, including former Soviet states Estonia and Kazakhstan.

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