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Ellina Mhlanga, Sports Reporter
AFTER making a huge impression on her return to competition last year, when she picked up a silver medal at the African Games, Zimbabwe’s Laurelle Brown is now preparing for this year’s Bonaqua Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup.
Brown will represent the country in the elite women’s event and is the only Zimbabwean who has, so far, confirmed her participation in the elite category for both men and women.
The annual event, which was officially launched yesterday at a Harare hotel, will take place on February 22 at Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga.
Having last competed in 2013, before she took a break to pursue her studies in the UK, Brown returned to competition last year.
She went on to win a silver medal at the African Games in Morocco.
As she prepares for the Troutbeck event, Brown is aware of the expectations she carries.
“Just coming off the back of the African Games, I think there is quite a lot of expectation on me to do quite well,’’ she said.
“But, I am just taking this year as it comes and hoping to get a little more competitive again.
“And, just starting to find my feet, seeing how I compare to athletes from the rest of the world and, obviously as mentioned, this race counts towards continental points.
“I am hoping to improve my ranking after this race. And, from there, just see what other races I can enter.’’
The former junior national and African champion said the results from the African Games motivated her to take up more elite races.
“I have been putting a lot of work into this race in Troutbeck. I am trying to find the work life, training balance, which has been quite difficult,’’ she said.
“But I have been putting in a lot of hours, probably doing three, four hours a day of training up until the event.
“We will see how it goes.”
The juniors have the ATU Junior Triathlon African Cup to look forward to, just like last year.
Event manager Rick Fulton said they had a number of activities lined up.
For this year, Zimbabwe will host a week-long ATU Junior Development camp in Harare, prior to the event in Nyanga, with participants from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa expected to take part.
The camp is one of many being facilitated by the ITU to prepare potential athletes for possible qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Of interest leading on to the Bonaqua Triathlon in Troutbeck, we will have a very good junior event, where these youngsters just as we did in 2019, will be out to show their skills,’’ he said.
“And, we will have a very good field of young men and women participating in this event, as well.
“So, it’s a double for us, it’s basically an elite field with a baby elite field following behind it.
“The event has grown in stature from that point of view.’’
For the first time, the Zimbabwe Aquatic Union will use the traditional open water swim as their Open Water National Championships under the auspices of the Bonaqua ATU Troutbeck Triathlon African Cup.
Coca-Cola country manager Milidzani Ncube said they were pleased to be in partnership with triathlon.
Other events lined up include the Zimbabwe National Triathlon championships, Off-Road triathlon, Bonaqua Corporate Team Challenge Super-sprint distance, Troutbeck Trikidz, for six to eight-year-olds, and Aquathlon (run-swim-run), among other competitions.
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