Indian Army congratulates retired General on breaking own record at Ironman triathon

Berlin, August 1: In a major victory, Retired Major General Vikram Dogra, the first army man to successfully complete an Ironman triathlon, beat his own record at the grueling event in Germany on Sunday. Dogra, beat his earlier record by 41 minutes in his second appearance at the triathlon which was held in Hamburg.

 

In its Instagram post, the Indian Army has congratulated Dogra Saying, “Our veteran, Our pride General Bipin Rawat #COAS congratulates Major General Vikram Dogra (Retired), who successfully completed an Ironman Triathlon, beating his own record at the gruelling event in #Germany.”

In July last year, Dogra had participated in the Ironman triathlon event, held in Klagenfurt in Austria, for the first time in his career while he was still a serving officer in the Indian Army. He had completed the triathlon in 14 hours and 21 minutes.

The Hamburg Ironman triathlon comprised three loops — a swim of 3.86 km, a cycling event of 184 km and a run of 42.2 km. It had to be completed without a break within a maximum time limit of 15 hours and 50 minutes.

 

A total number of 2,700 athletes from across 70 countries took part in the Ironman triathlon this year.

 

During his 37 years of service in the Indian Army, Dogra has been an avid sportsperson, who indulged in various outdoor games like badminton and squash. He was introduced to the triathlon in the year 2013 when a private company organised a beginner’s version of the event for the first time in NCR in Faridabad. He subsequently switched to more challenging versions of the event