Faris al-Sultan ( ar, فارس السلطان, born 21 January 1978) is a former German triathlete who is now active as a coach. In 2005, he was the third German to win the Ironman Hawaii. He is listed in the best list of German triathletes on the Ironman distance.

Career

Faris al-Sultan is known for his strengths in all three triathlon disciplines. In the running segment, he has a consistent but uncommon form of a long stride and loose arms, described as "looping." In competition, he typically wears a Speedo and half-singlet. His interest in triathlon was inspired by Thomas Hellriegel, a German triathlete. Faris was born 21 January 1978 in Munich, Germany to a German mother and an Iraqi father. He started out as a collegiate swimmer before taking on triathlon. His first Ironman in 1997 was

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

Ironman, which he completed in a time of 10:33. Al-Sultan achieved his first Ironman win at the inaugural running of Ironman Arizona in 2005. He competed at the Ironman world championships in Hawaii in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004 before finally winning there in 2005. The favorite that year, fellow German

Normann Stadler Normann ("The Norminator") Stadler (born February 25, 1973 in Wertheim am Main, Wertheim) is a retired professional triathlon, triathlete from Germany. He is the winner of the 2004 and 2006 Ironman World Championship, Ironman Triathlon W ...

, withdrew due to flat tyres. In al-Sultan's return to defend the title in 2006, he placed third. At the 2007 championships, Faris did not compete due to a case of

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...

the morning of the race. He said choosing not to compete "was one of the hardest decisions of my life." He was the winner at the 2013 Ironman

on 18 May, completing with an overall time of 8:42:40.

Private life

Al-Sultan's father Talib came to Germany from Iraq in 1958. His mother Lydia is from Munich, where his father works as the head of a translation agency. Faris Al-Sultan attended high school in Munich/Moosach. He was a graduate student at

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, working on a Master's degree in Arabic language, literature, and history. Al-Sultan dropped out of graduate school before completing his degree to focus on triathlons. In April 2014, his son was born, since November 2014 he has been married to the former triathlete Ina Reinders and in January 2016, their daughter was born. Currently, Faris al-Sultan is coach of

Patrick Lange Patrick Lange (; 25 August 1986) is a professional duathlete and triathlete from Germany. He is the 2017 Ironman World Champion and the 2018 Ironman World Champion both times breaking the course record. Lange is also the 2010-2013 German champ ...

, 2 time Ironman World Champion triathlete.

Notes

External links

Official Website
Ironman world champions German male triathletes German people of Iraqi descent Living people 1978 births Sportspeople from Munich Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni {{Germany-triathlon-bio-stub