Meet Elisa Grassi, a Ph.D. student at KAUST who won the Gold Medal and one million SAR prize at the Saudi Games Triathlon held in Riyadh on November 7.
Originally from Pavia, Italy, Elisa came to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2018 for a Photonics Summer School and immediately fell in love with the place. She applied to join the University and is currently doing her research on the application of Raman Spectroscopy for the early diagnosis of cancer under Prof. Carlo Liberale.
Training at KAUST
Elisa loved to run and once the pandemic hit in 2020, it played a major role in keeping her relaxed, energized and focused. But soon, an injury forced her to take several months of rest from running. Elisa could not give up on her daily exercise. She bought a road bike and started cycling instead. To her surprise, she fell in love with the speed of cycling and enjoyed it a lot more than running.
“There are not many places in the world where you can do high-level research and pro-training at the same time. Living 5 minutes from the workplace saved the time spent traveling, and I could train even during long working days. The facilities in KAUST are great, and free access to the pool and the gym is a game changer. The safe streets, even early in the morning, are perfect for cycling and running.”, said Elisa.
Professional training and joining the Saudi Games
Elisa started taking part in triathlons in Jeddah and nearby cities for fun. Amazingly, she was always able to win every time and started thinking about joining the world of pro-athletics. For this, she sought the help of Coach Yacoub, a professional coach with sports science background. He was able to bring her performances to the next level.
When it was announced that expatriates could qualifying for the Saudi Games, he immediately got to work adapting her training plan to fit the race’s format. Elisa needed to win first in all the preliminary races to be able to race in the finals as an expatriate.
“I started training very hard and was totally committed to this goal. My routine was literally waking up early in the morning, training, work, training again and going to bed. I loved challenging myself and when I set a goal, I don’t stop until I get it. I would even book only hotels close to gyms so I can continue to train when I traveled for conferences.”, said Elisa.
Her days revolved around training for the triathlon and her research. She even booked hotels based on proximity to gyms when she traveled for conferences. She needed to win first in all the qualifying races to make it to the finals of the Saudi Games as an expatriate.
Getting covid 20 days before the final race
Life threw a curveball at Elisa just 20 days before the race. She tested positive for covid, throwing her training plans into disarray. Fortunately, it was not severe and only affected her upper respiratory tract. But she still rested as prescribed worried about the long-term effects covid has on athletes.
Coach Yacoub was able to create an unconventional training plan that helped her adapt to this situation and brought her performance back to 100% before the actual race. She was able to beat all odds and win the triathlon at the Saudi Games.
“I am incredibly grateful for this experience and amazed by all the wonderful people I met during this journey. I think Saudi Arabia has huge potential and is flourishing these years. If my research is successful, I’d like to keep working here and give back to the country. I will keep taking part in triathlons and try to be a pro-athlete.”, said Elisa.
Thank you, Elisa, for sharing your story with the KAUST Community.
People of KAUST
People of KAUST is dedicated to sharing stories that demonstrate the KAUST values in action and highlight the “beacons” within our community. If you know someone who is a beacon of our community, we want to hear about them! Fill in the People of KAUST form to share their story for consideration.
