The World Games is an Internationally recognised event, endorsed by the International Olympic Committee and is a way of showcasing sports not in the Olympics. This year it was held in China for the first time and over 4000 athletes from 100 Countries competed in 34 sports.

Hadis was representing the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) in both the individual duathlon and the mixed duathlon event.

Over half the field had raced at either World Triathlon Championship Series or at World Cup level, so it was expected to be a fast event. Hadis ran a PB over the first 5km to get herself into one of the chasing bike packs. The heat & humidity took its toll on the field, with one athlete having to drop out on the first run.

The front of the race was averaging over 37km/hr on the 5 lap, technical course. The pace on the bike meant that the packs fragmented with smaller groups of riders, usually 2-3, all over the course, only 9 riders rode under 50 mins on the course. Hadis came into T2 as the 1st IRI athlete but was a couple of minutes back on the front of the race. The effort Hadis had put in during the first two disciplines of the event meant she couldn’t match the pace she had hit on the first run.

Hadis finished as the 2nd IRI athlete home.

Now it was a matter of recovering before the Mixed Duathlon event in 48 hours time.

The 2 x 2 Mixed Relay was a great opportunity for the IRI athletes to be exposed to & experience this event.

Hadis & Meysam Rezaei Layeh were looking forward to, not only racing the other teams but also going head to head with the other Iranian team of Faezeh Abedini Nezhad & Abbas Kiani.

Given the quality of field the head to head may have been the main race within a race. It transpired that Hadis & Meysam got the bragging rights on this occasion.

The World Games were a great experience for the IRI athletes who do not often get access to this quality of field.