Coach Faris Al-Sultan is not allowed to attend the Ironman in Hawaii

Ironman world champion Patrick Lange has to do without his trainer Faris Al-Sultan when attacking the title hat trick on Saturday.

The 41-year-old did not receive a visa for the trip to Kona / Hawaii. A report from the trade magazine Triathlon confirmed al-Sutan on Tuesday SPORT1.

Al-Sultan said he did not receive the visa “in time”: “Of course, that is very annoying. Al-Sultan explained the procedure for the US visa: “The ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization, Anm. d. Red.) must be applied for 72 hours before check-in at the airport. I was running late, it was exactly 72 hours. If I had received my ESTA after that exact time, I would have stayed on my original flight. That didn’t happen. “

Al-Sultan continues: “At the airport they rebooked me on today’s flight out of goodwill, but no decision had been made by the time I should have left. Then I canceled the trip because the goodwill only worked once . “

“A shame for Patrick”

Above all, it was a shame for his protégé Lange, said Al-Sultan of the incident. “I’ve been there for the last two years and it went well, which is of course uncomfortable for the athlete.” Nevertheless, “there are a lot of people who take care of him,” said Al-Sultan about the care for his protégé on site.

His protégé expressed his regret at a press conference in Kona on Tuesday: “It’s a shame, but it can’t be changed.”

The US visa of Al-Sultan, whose father is from Iraq, expired after ten years. He “only noticed this shortly before departure,” but before the 72-hour deadline had expired, he said.

But now he doesn’t want to travel any more, because “it’s 48 hours of travel, at some point the whole effort is no longer worth it.” The 2005 Ironman winner will follow the race on TV this year. Al-Sultan also sees an advantage in this unfamiliar perspective: “Then I’ll only be tired for one day and not have ten days of jetlag.”

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