Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
RACHEL O’Donoghue stepped up her build-up for the forthcoming Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games over the weekend with a European debut in Latvia.
O’Donoghue made her maiden appearance at the 2026 Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Jurmala on Saturday and finished 27th in a field of 38 junior women.
They competed over the sprint distance (750m swim, 19.1km bike and 5km run).
The 16-year-old completed the race in 1 hour 03 minutes 35 seconds.
For O’Donoghue, the goal was more on going a gear up in her preparations for the Youth Olympics due to take place from October 31 to November 13 in Senegal.
As part of her preparations, she was scheduled to compete in two Junior Cup events in Europe starting with the super sprint race that was set for Moletai, Lithuania, a week ago.
However, the junior women’s race in Moletai was cancelled due to bad weather before she moved to Latvia for Saturday’s race.
National coach Pamela Fulton, who will be travelling with O’Donoghue for the YOG, believes the Europe tour gave her the much-needed experience.
“These last two weeks for Rachel have been an amazing experience.
“Firstly, in Lithuania where the competition was going to be over a super sprint distance.
“Unfortunately, this did not quite go to plan, but the whole exposure of travelling and meeting new girls she will no doubt compete with in the future will stand her in good stead.
“Rachel was in a good place leading up to her Latvia race as she had her personal coach there as well as her father.
“She unfortunately did not have the swim that she had hoped for placing 30th out of 38 ladies.
“This gave her quite a bit of work on the bike in order to try catch the ladies ahead. She was able to work in a pack with other ladies.
“This experience alone is something she does not experience often in Africa,” said Fulton.
The race was won by France’s Maelis Rolin in 59 minutes 44 seconds. She was followed by Amelie Piazza also from France with a time of 59 minutes 54 seconds.
Belgium’s Lia Depret was third in 59 minutes 57 seconds.
“She had an exceptionally fast transition off the bike and had a really good run posting the 19th fastest run on the day.
“This is commendable and very encouraging for her to be able to do this at the end of a hard race, to be both mentally and physically stronger than many of her opposition,” said Fulton.
Going forward, Fulton said they are looking at areas that need improvement ahead of Dakar.
