Identical triplets set to compete in the women’s marathon in the summer Olympics.
tol.org 30 May 2016
Thirty-year old Leila, Liina, and Lily Luik started to train professionally when they were already 24 years old. Yet they are now in the final stages of preparing for the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

While it is not uncommon for twins to take part in the Olympics, the Luiks are believed to be the first triplets to compete against one another, Reuters reports.

"We saw ... after one year we had good results in Estonia and we thought we could achieve something good also outside of Estonia and to do some big competitions like European Championships and the Olympic games," said Lily Luik.

According to The Washington Post, the women only found out in April that they would all be competing together when the last sister, Leila, finished a marathon in Hamburg in less than 2 hours and 45 minutes – the threshold to quality for the Olympics.

The sisters are not favored for medals in Rio, but their main goal is to finish together, according to Reuters. Reportedly, they even have their own tactics such as taking turns in “wind breaking.”

The trio will start training in northern Italy for the Games in June.

• According to the Olympic database, 200 twins have so far competed in the Olympics. Interestingly, in almost all cases, the twins competed in the same sport.

• In February this year, teenage twin brothers died in a crash on the Calgary track used in the Calgary Olympics.

• The Rio Olympics will be Estonia’s seventh participation in the Games since the Communist era.

(Compiled by Katerina Glacnerova)

Märkmed: