Saudi Gazette report

TAIF — American camel racer Taylor Dees was crowned the winner of the sixth stage of the rider marathon at the opening of the final phase of the fifth edition of Crown Prince Camel Festival, which is being held in Taif.

Saudi Assistant Minister of Sports for Sports Affairs Adwa Al-Araifi, who is also member of the Board of Directors of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee, presented the trophy and medals to Taylor and other winners.

Taylor clinched the title of the open international stage (2 km), held for the first time in the history of the festival, with a time of three minutes and 57.44 seconds, while Iranian camel racer Azatollah Farmoush came second with a time of four minutes, 9.46 seconds whereas German camel rider Mark Ward came third with a time of four minutes and 15.49 seconds.

The organizing committee of the festival, in cooperation with the International Camel Racing Federation (ICRF), introduced the open international marathon stage dedicated to women, with cash prizes reaching up to SR155,000 as part of efforts to develop women’s sport.

On Monday, six stages of the rider marathon were held, with five stages for men covering a distance of 4 km each, and one stage for women covering 2 km. Munif Al-Aradi won first place in the rider marathon, riding Al-Shard, owned by Beshra Hammad, with a time of 7 minutes, 27.42 seconds.

In the second stage, Abdullah Al-Rubaie won first place riding Baraqah owned by Mushabbab Al-Qahtani, with a time of 7 minutes, 37.47 seconds. The third stage was crowned by Nayef Al-Juhani, riding Hamlul, owned by Safar Al-Osaimi, and the fourth round was won by Salem Al-Hwaiti, riding Harba owned by Atef Al-Qurashi. The fifth stage was won by Suleiman Al-Hwaiti, riding ‘Doctor’, owned by Salman Obaid Al-Dosari.