Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ANDIE KUIPERS returns to competition this weekend when she takes part at the Africa Triathlon Sprint Championships in Mauritius, marking the beginning of her audacious bid to secure qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The qualification window opened on May 18 and will run until May 18, 2028. And the continental sprint event in Mauritius presents Kuipers with a chance to accumulate points towards her ranking.
Speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub, Kuipers expressed confidence with the groundwork covered ahead of Sunday’s race.
“The build-up to the Africa Champs has really been good. “I have just been able to get in, I think it’s been 12 weeks of really consistent training, especially because at the beginning of the season I feel like I wasn’t ready to race.
“I did have a good amount of training under me, but I didn’t have enough time to prepare in the way that I wanted to,” said Kuipers.
Her first race for the year was the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup at the Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga on March 14, but it did not go as expected after she pulled out of the event early in the swim due to some discomfort.
She then participated in the Africa Triathlon Premium Cup Swakopmund in Namibia a week later and placed 13th.
“I feel like I have been able to kind of put the disappointment of the first two races behind me and use it as kind of like fuel to come back and be ready and prepared, which I do feel now.
“I have put a lot of work into my swim especially. It’s the most I have probably swum in my whole life.
“It’s just so important now at this level to be in the race from the start. So, yeah, I am just really happy with where everything is at the moment.
“I have had no injuries, no setbacks, just been able to settle down and focus,” said Kuipers.
The Australia-based athlete is up against the likes of South Africa’s Shanae Williams and Hannah Newman in the elite women.
Williams is top-ranked on the continent.
They will be joined by Ghizlane Assou of Mauritius and Kenya’s Bernice Kariuki to complete a field of five elite women.
“The Africa Sprint Championships hold just as many points as standard distance championships and any championship race.”
“So, it’s really important to finish as high as I can, especially within that eight percent of the winner’s time.
“My number one priority is to firstly be within that eight percent.
“I have worked so hard now on my swim, so I am hoping I have closed the gap to be at the front of the race from the start.
“And then also to show the work that I put in my run. I am aiming to have a good run off the bike, which the work that I have done so far should put me in good standing,” Kuipers said.
The more Kuipers accumulates points, the better her ranking, which will also open doors for her to bigger competitions, such as world events which have got more points.
A positive outcome this weekend will be a boost for Kuipers ahead of her other future races. “If I am able to get the points, it would put me in a really good position going into my next races. “And yeah, in terms of the field, I am happy that I am able to race the best on the continent because if I am going to go to LA, I need to be one of them.
Zimbabwe will also be represented in the Africa Triathlon Junior Cup that will run concurrently with the Sprint Championships, with Rachel O’Donoghue competing in the women’s section.
