Morocco's hottest unknown sportsman!

Here at The View from Fez we trawl through the world media to find you exciting stories about Fez and Morocco. So you can imagine out delight when we discovered that Moroccan, Abderrahim Zad, was a competitor in the world's hottest competition - the World Sauna Championships in Finland.

Yes, strange but true. According to the rules... Every competitor takes part in the competition at their own risk. The Sauna temperature to fight against is 110ºC, with half a litre of water thrown on the stove every 30 seconds to increase the steaming heat effect. Competitors have to sit in the Sauna with buttocks and thighs on the seat. Posture must be erect; elbows must stay on the knees and arms have to be in an upright position. Touching skin with hands or disturbing the other competitors is strictly forbidden. The competitor will have to leave the Sauna without outside help, otherwise they will be disqualified. The last person to get out of the Sauna becomes the World Sauna Champion.

We were looking at the TV placings and we noticed that Abderrahim Zad was in with the big boys in sauna one. It was an unfortunate draw because he was up against men like world champion Timo Kaukonen who lasted 16 minutes and 15 seconds (a world record).

Abderrahim Zad is no stranger to saunas as he works for Harvia Sauna company as their export manager for Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait. "Sure, it's a bit crazy, but I like crazy things. I'm going to be back next year, inshallah," Abderrahim said.

We have to report that Abderrahim did not finish in the top five. In fact, Abderrahim, who comes from Rabat, fell out in the opening heats after only 2 minutes 38 seconds.

However, we like to think that, by default, he must be Moroccan World Champion.



Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news