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Ellina Mhlanga-Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S triathlete Andie Kuipers says she is shifting focus to her studies after missing qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The qualifying window for the triathlon closed yesterday.
Kuipers, who is studying Psychology at Wingate University, in the United States took a semester off to channel her energy towards qualifying for the Paris Games due to take place from July 26 to August 11.
However, it did not work out as she had hoped. Kuipers was part of the field at the 2024 Asia Triathlon Cup Burabay in Kazakhstan over the weekend and came fifth in 2 hours 12 minutes 20 seconds.
It was her last race before the deadline for qualification.
“My race wasn’t the best performance from me. I am still learning to perfect the Olympic distance, but the cold temperatures affected me in the swim, and I didn’t have it on the day to catch up to the front group on the bike.
“So unfortunately, Paris is no longer on the cards for me, and I will shift my focus to finishing my studies for the rest of the year and then we move on to qualification for 2028.
“I am finishing my studies online as I finish in December.”
There was hope for Kuipers to accumulate world ranking points that would give her a chance to qualify under the new flag.
Under the new flag, one place per gender is granted to each of the five continental confederations. To earn one of the coveted spots, an athlete must be the best-ranked athlete in the world rankings from a country without a qualifier of the same gender.
They must also be within the top 180 of the world rankings.
However, with South Africa having better-ranked athletes, Kuipers will have to wait a bit longer to try and qualify in the future.
Despite missing the Paris Games, Kuipers has no regrets and believes the experience has allowed her to grow.
“The experience has given me opportunities I would never have dreamed of. I think I have grown so much as a person and as an athlete and will take these skills with me and use them in all aspects of life.
“In terms of qualification for 2028, I now know exactly what I need to do, whereas at the start of the Paris cycle, I had no idea.
“I am also that much older and that much more experienced I will definitely plan better and hopefully try to limit the travel and put a big focus on my training blocks,” said Kuipers.
Triathlon Zimbabwe national coach Pamela Fulton said there were many lessons learnt from the last race for future planning.
Fulton said due to the extreme cold conditions the swim was reduced from 1.5km to 750m swim. “It was an interesting time for Andie in Kazakhstan with many lessons learnt for future planning.
“With the extremely cold conditions, Andie was unable to finish within the required 8 percent of the winner to earn ranking points. However, it appears that South Africa will take the New Flag position anyway. But this is yet to be confirmed and announced.
“Andie is travelling back to Zimbabwe today (yesterday), will take a well-deserved break and we will discuss and plan her way forward for the rest of the year and the way forward to 2028,” said Fulton.
The race was won by Ireland’s Elizabeth Carr in 1 hour 57 minutes 17 seconds.
In second position was Hong Kong’s Bailee Brown with a time of 1 hour 58 minutes 12 seconds, followed by Alina Khakimova of Uzbekistan and Ekaterina Shabalina of Kazakhstan in third and fourth place respectively.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter