Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
TRIATHLON Zimbabwe is ready to stage an exciting 15th edition of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck that has drawn local and international athletes.
The much awaited continental showpiece will be held tomorrow at Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga with 33 elite participants expected to compete in the sport that combines swimming, cycling and running.
The event director of the triathlon which is sponsored by Coca-Cola and Schweppes through the Bonaqua water brand, Rick Fulton said they are ready to go and was confident that local athletes will dominate in terms of numbers of participants.
Fulton said most of the international participants drawn from countries such as Chile, Austria, Kazakhstan, Togo, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Poland, Ireland, Ukraine, Bermuda, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Romania, Japan and Guam, were expected to arrive in the country yesterday while others might arrive at the Robert Mugabe International Airport today and then travel by road to Nyanga.
He said they are expecting 52 international athletes to compete in the elite and the elite junior categories.
“We’re good to go. We’ve got 33 elite men and women and the balance racing in the junior category from 20 different countries.
“So it’s looking very good and we hope the locals will also bolster the entries,” said Fulton.
Regarded as one of the toughest courses in Africa, the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck is running concurrently with the Junior Africa Cup.
Zimbabwe is not represented in the elite category as the country’s Olympic hopeful Andie Kuipers who races in the Under-23 is at university in the United States and as such they will bank on juniors.
Under-19 pair of Duwan Botha and Anje Van AS who represented Zimbabwe in the men and women’s competitions at the 2023 Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Maselspoort, South Africa will be at the start line for the Junior African Cup.
The pair also competed at the 2023 Africa Triathlon Junior Cup Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) on March 18.
The competition was part of the qualifying event for possible selection to represent Zimbabwe at the Africa Triathlon Championships in Egypt in October this year.
Winner of the 2016 and 2021 edition of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup Troutbeck Ayan Beisenbayev of Kazakhstan leads a cast of international participants who have participated in the Nyanga triathlon.
Badr Siwane from Morocco, Martin Demuth from Austria, Michal Oliwa from Poland, South African Dylan Nortje, Meirlan Iskakov from Kazakhstan and Laurent L’Entete from Mauritius have been at Troutbeck before.
Elite women returnees are Shanae Williams, who was the runner up in 2022 and Bridget Theunissen from South Africa.
Beisenbayev is ranked number one in the men’s section while Barbara De Koning from Netherlands is ranked first in the women’s section.
Besides the triathlon competition, there are also a number of supporting events on the day such as duathlon, aquabike, off-road triathlon standard and sprint, aquathlon and open water swim — 5 000m, 3 000m, 1 500m, 750m, and a 4x500m relay.
Triathlon Zimbabwe will also stage the national championships on the day.
Meanwhile, online registration closed yesterday afternoon with race organisers saying they will accept late entries in person at Troutbeck today. — @ZililoR
Sidumisile Mabena