Kampar, Malaysia, July 12, 2024: If triathlon is a heady combination of three sports, then Masa, Lulwa and Mia are a perfect fit for it.
Masa Al-Kurdi from Jordan, Lulwa Al-Rifaie from Kuwait and Mia Sahyoun from Lebanon have banded together seamlessly at the OCA triathlon youth development camp over the past few days.
While each of them room with girls from other countries, they are together all the time in-and-out of training, and have forged a close friendship which they say will now last a lifetime.
“I didn’t know both of them until I arrived here, but now we are close friends and will be so in the future too. We all have dreams of representing our countries at the highest level internationally, and it would be great if we met at the Asian Games or the Olympics in the future,” says 16-year-old Masa.
Lulwa is the most outspoken of the trio. Sitting together during the interactive quiz competition which ends every theory class, the 17-year-old Kuwaiti won the triathlon test beating 62 other participants, both coaches and athletes.
“We play these interactive games on our phones at school, and it was nice to see my hobby being used here. These were basic questions and it was fun, both Masa and Mia also did well,” Lulwa laughs.
The youngest of the trio, 14-year-old Mia, believes language – Arabic in this instance - is the common denominator and what drew this group together. “But we do communicate with the others, and if some of them are not so fluent in English, then we use Google translator,” Mia smiles. Her roommate is from Kyrgyzstan.
Masa chips in “action also helps, we use sign language.” She shares her room with a girl from Kazakhstan. “We are also learning Russian by the way.”
At the outset of this camp, World Triathlon development officer Vicent Beltran, insisted that all 48 boys and girls from the 25 different Asian National Olympic Committees learn the common language of “triathlon”.
The trio insist that they are doing so, as well as learning plenty of tips about the sport. "This is a great experience for us. We are learning about how to prepare for a race, tips on nutrition, and how important it is for mental health,” offers Mia.
Lulwa chips in: “And how to be patient.”
“Apart from learning about triathlon, meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds is nice. We are expanding our network, and I have made new friends for life,” says Masa pointing to her two besties.
Photo: OCA
