体坛英语新闻：World's biggest long-distance triathlon event open in Germany

ROTH, Germany, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The DATEV Challenge Roth, the world's biggest long-distance triathlon event, took place in southern German city of Roth on Sunday, attracting around 3,500 individual starters and 650 relay teams from over 60 countries and regions.

The competition started early on the morning, and it is made up of three parts, a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km cycling race and a final marathon of 42 kilometers.

Far more than 220,000 spectators cheered along the course, according to the statistics of local police.

Dang Qi, who is the first Chinese athlete to take part in the triathlon, managed to finish the challenge with excellent results in spite of a slight cold.

"I love this sport, so I never find it difficult to overcome pains and injuries during my career," the 36-year-old Beijinger told Xinhua.

"I would like to participate more in such international events, in order to gain more experience and to share my experience with other athletes or fans in China."

Dang Qi hopes that more and more people in China will like this event and participate it, and he hopes that this kind of event will also be held in China in the future.

In September 1984, the first "Franken Triathlon" event took place in Roth, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary of triathlon in Roth.