O’Donoghue waits a bit longer as race is cancelled

Ellina Mhlanga

Zimpapers Sports Hub

RACHEL O’Donoghue will have to wait until this coming weekend for her debut appearance in a Europe Triathlon Junior Cup event after the cancellation of the race in Moletai, Lithuania, due to bad weather on Saturday.

O’Donoghue was one of the 28 junior women who had entered the 2026 Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Moletai. They were set to compete over the super sprint distance, and it was the first of two races she was set to compete in.

Her next Cup event is in Latvia.

It was going to be her first race in Europe as she seeks more competition and goes up a gear in her preparations for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, set for October 31 to November 13.

Her father, Ross O’Donoghue, who is also Triathlon Zimbabwe president, confirmed the cancellation of the race.

“There was actually no race yesterday (Saturday).

“This unbelievable storm came through, and the trees got blown over.

“They cancelled the whole race. It was actually like the whole country’s just been destroyed by the storm.

“There are just trees falling down everywhere. So, the race was cancelled yesterday.

“We were supposed to fly out to Norway today, and our flights have been cancelled because of the mess,” said Ross.

The Junior Cup event had attracted participants from countries such as Latvia, Slovenia, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, Malta and Finland.

And just to make up for the cancelled race, there were plans to hold another race yesterday for all the participants, but it would not be part of the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup series.

“So, they have actually organised another race today.

“It’s not an official World Triathlon race, but all the kids who were supposed to race yesterday are having an unofficial race today.

“But yeah, it’s a little bit disappointing that it’s not an official race. Rachel was very excited to race.”

However, O’Donoghue still has another European Junior Cup event to look forward to, as she is scheduled to take part in another race in Jurmala, Latvia, this weekend.