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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
TRIATHLON Zimbabwe secretary-general Carol Pakenham says the late entrance of Kazakh star Ayan Beisenbayev has added excitement ahead of the 14th edition of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup.
The annual contest is scheduled for the Troutbeck Resort in Nyanga tomorrow.
The 25-year-old men elite athlete, comes in with a lot of experience, having won the same event, five years ago. Beisenbayev, who is ranked 67th in the world, made a late entry on Wednesday, and has since arrived in the country for the race, which will be held under strict adherence, to the Covid-19 health protocols.
His arrival pushes the total field of international elite, and junior elite athletes to 32, for the meet, which will also see over 170 local triathletes, taking part.
By yesterday, athletes from Kenya, Namibia, Morocco, Luxembourg, Senegal, South Africa and Nigeria had arrived, while more were expected late in the evening.
Pakenham, who is also the event administrator, said everything was moving smoothly and promised a good event.
“So far, so good. We have started receiving athletes from all over the world and we are still expecting more, late in the evening (last night) and tomorrow (today) morning,’’ she said.
“Everything is going according to plan and it is our hope that by tomorrow (today), all athletes will be at the venue.
“The coming in of Beisenbayev has further added to the excitement.
“He won the men’s elite title in 2016 and he is one of the highly-rated triathletes in the world. We are looking forward to a very competitive event on Saturday (tomorrow).’’
With no participant, in the men’s elite race, Zimbabwe will be pinning their hopes on veteran Wynn Greer.
She faces stiff competition from the South African duo of Bridget Theunissen and Hannah Newman, in the women’s elite category.
The country will also expect the trio of George Ascott, Marcel Paulser and David Knox, who are taking part in the Junior Men’s competition, to do well.
The highly-rated Makanaka Mawere, and Jessica Fuller, will feature in the Junior Women’s pool with the rest of the country’s athletes scheduled to take part, in other categories, at the annual jamboree.
The fiesta is being bankrolled by Coca-Cola, through their Bonaqua water brand.
This meet will afford participants to pick crucial Paris 2024 Olympic qualification points.
Besides the major elite, and junior races, participants will also battle it out in different other contests. These include the African Cross-Triathlon (off-road) Championships, Schweppes Corporate Triathlon Challenge, Zimbabwe Triathlon Championships, Tri-Kidz and Trisports triathlon.
Aquathlon (run-swim-run) for individuals and teams, Open Water Swim Series, Youth Super-Sprint, Cimas I-Go Corporate Team Challenge Finale, adult age-group, and youth mini-triathlon formats, will also be on offer, on the same day.
Online Reporter