adminTakudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
JUNIOR elite triathletes Rebecca Duncan and Drew Williams are scheduled to leave the country today for the United States where they will take part in the Junior Women and Men ITU World Championships.
The event will be held in Chicago next weekend. The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee are sponsoring duo’s trip. The Junior Women and Men ITU World Championships will also serve as Olympic qualifiers. Williams, who participated in the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, in August 2014, will race in the Junior Men’s race on Thursday while Duncan’s Junior Women’s race will take place on Friday.
Both Duncan and Williams have been training intensively in Zimbabwe in all three disciplines of triathlon — swimming, cycling and running — after qualifying in May at the ATU African Triathlon in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
Carol Pakenham, the secretary of Triathlon Zimbabwe, in a statement, said that Duncan of Chisipite Senior School and Williams of St John’s College, will depart for the United States today.
“We would like to advise that two of our Junior elite athletes, Duncan and Williams, will be depart Harare on Saturday 12th September for the United States where they will be representing Zimbabwe in the Junior Women and Junior Men races at the ITU World Championships in Chicago on September 17. They will be accompanied by travelling coach Pam Fulton and vice-president of Triathlon Zimbabwe Ian Duncan, who will be attending the ITU Congress in Chicago.
“Rebecca and Drew have been training non-stop throughout the winter season and school holidays, and as part of their intensive training schedules, they participated in the Mandela Day Triathlon held at Midmar Dam in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, last month where they did well and won silver medals in their respective categories,” she said.
The Triathlon Zimbabwe 2015-16 season roars into life with the first event set for Mount Pleasant Pool on September 20. In another development, the association has released their calendar for the 2015-16 season that has several national and international events.
On the calendar, the World Triathlon Championships and World Triathlon Series Grand Final set for Chicago, is one of the main events. The other international events will include the Troutbeck ATU African Triathlon Cup in February. In March there will be more events like the South African Triathlon Championships in Bloemfontein, among others.
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