Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S Andie Kuipers put up a good show to claim two medals at the 2025 Africa Triathlon Sprint Championships El Galala, Egypt.
The event held last Friday saw Kuipers claiming bronze in the elite women’s and gold in the Under-23 women category.
She completed the race, 750m swim, 20km bike and a 5km run in 1 hour 9 minutes 38 seconds and placed third behind South Africa’s Shanae Williams and Imene Maldji from Algeria.
Williams won the elite category in 1 hour 4 minutes 16 seconds, and Maldji was second with a time of 1 hour 8 minutes 34 seconds.
For Kuipers, the performance also earned her a gold medal in the Under-23 women’s category.
Nora Nouri from Mauritius was second in 1 hour 11 minutes 38 seconds, Shahd Walid of Egypt finished third in 1 hour 15 minutes 50 seconds.
Triathlon Zimbabwe vice president Pamela Fulton lauded Kuipers for her efforts.
“I have been in close communication with Andie throughout her whole travels, going to Egypt.
“I am very proud of the way she raced. I think she had a good race.
“I had a long chat with her the day after her race, and she said she couldn’t have done any better. She put absolutely everything into it.
“She had a really good swim and she is always so competitive on the bike. She does a lot of work on the bike. Always being at the front and exerting the energy, trying to close her gap on Shanae,” said Fulton.
Kuipers, who is now based in Kuwait, is chasing for points to keep her ranking up so that she stands a chance to compete at world events that can earn her more points.
The goal is to put herself in a good position to try and qualify for Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, she could not get points during Friday’s race after placing third in the elite category.
“I think it was really crucial for her to get these ranking points to enable her to get to higher level races. Unfortunately, Imene beat her and then Andie missed out on the points by like 15 seconds.
“If she was 15 seconds faster, she would have got points, so she’s really frustrated about that.
“But she knows that she put everything in . . . Overall, she was really pleased with her race but just disappointed at not getting her points.”
Kuipers still has a chance to try and change her fortunes when she takes part in the Africa Triathlon Cup and Pan-Arab Championships in Harghada, Egypt, this weekend.
The event is expected to feature athletes from Germany, Italy, Serbia, Venezuela, Switzerland, Hungary and Den-mark.
“I think she will be the only African on the start line at the Cup event. So, lots of international athletes from Europe . . . This will be a bigger field.
“This will give her an idea as to where she is in the big scheme of things.
“She can earn points at the Cup event. So, her priority now is to pick events that she’s likely to earn points at.
“She ended her campaign for Paris 2024 really racing too much, desperately trying to get those last points,” Fulton said.
Kuipers was one of the beneficiaries of the Olympic Solidarity Scholarships for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, however, she could not make the cut.
She is looking at building on the experience gained during her first attempt to try and qualify for the next edition of the Games.
