The Bangladeshi Triathlete Mohammad Shamsuzzaman Arafat – also known as Arafat – has won the IRONMAN AWA (All World Athlete) - Gold award.
AWA status is bestowed on the best performing and committed age group athletes, powered by the Age Group Ranking (AGR) points, read a press release.
The status is awarded for a 12-month period in the year directly after the earning year. For example, if an athlete ranks highly in 2020, they will be awarded AWA status and benefits for the duration of the year 2021.
In 2022 Arafat achieved some extraordinary milestones for Bangladesh. He raced in four Ironman events in 2022 – Ironman World Championship, Utah, USA, Ironman Malaysia, Ironman 70.3 Desaru Coast, Malaysia, Ironman 70.3 Goa, India.
AGR points are calculated based on an athlete’s race finish time behind the first finisher in their age group. Points continue to decrease as the race time increases until the points reach a “points floor,” at which time they do not drop further.
There is a value to the minutes and seconds in each race distance. In an IRONMAN, the points begin at 5,000 and diminish at a rate of approximately 12 points per minute. In an IRONMAN 70.3 the points begin at 3,500 and they diminish by approximately 18 points per minute.
Arafat finished the Ironman world championship as the first Bangladeshi with a timing of 11 hours 32 minutes despite having a severe road crush in the last portion of the cycle leg.
In Ironman Malaysia he placed 2nd and earned 4,660 points, 4th in Ironman 70.3 Desaru Coast earning 3,019 points, and 2nd in Ironman 70.3 Goa, India earning 3,232 points, which lead to him earning 10,911 points.
An athlete’s points accumulate over the course of a calendar year. Their three best AGR points results combine to create the athlete’s overall score, which determines their Age Group Ranking. A maximum of an athlete’s three (3) best event results may contribute to this total score.
At the end of the year, IRONMAN identifies the athletes who have finished in the top percentiles of their age group, and these athletes are awarded AWA status for the following calendar year. AGR points reset at the beginning of each year.
At the beginning of each calendar year, the top 2 per cent of each Age Group are awarded Gold, the next 5 per cent Silver, and the next 10 per cent Bronze.
Arafat earned a Gold award for the first time from Bangladesh. His global rank is 136. Regarding the win, Arafat said, “It's a part of my limitless journey, and I am continuously trying to be the best of myself. Every day I try to be a little better than yesterday, which lead me to earn such a big milestone.”
He added, “Practicing for multi sports is highly challenging in Dhaka, as we don’t have a place to swim, cycle and run. I think some infrastructure development will help sports enthusiasts to bring the country to a higher stage.”
Arafat qualified for Ironman World Championship, Kona Hawaii, USA and Ironman 70.3 World Championship, Lahti, Finland in 2022. He is now preparing himself focusing to be the best of himself to cross the limit one more time.
