Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
TRIATHLON Zimbabwe national coach, Pamela Fulton, is convinced there is a bright future for the young triathletes following a good outing at the ATU Triathlon African Championships in Mauritius recently.

Zimbabwe had six athletes competing as individuals and mixed team relay in which they picked a silver medal.

The relay team was made up of Andie Kuipers, Matt Denslow Mikayla Colegrave and Luke Steffens competing over a 250m swim, 5km bike and 2km run.

The put up a spirited fight and came second behind South Africa, who were the favourites.

France were third while Tunisia and Mauritius were fourth and fifth.

In the individual events, the Under-19 age group, Kuipers was ninth and booked a place for herself at the World Championships in August.  Fulton said the results were encouraging and Kuipers’ qualification for the world event is a huge achievement.

“Andie came ninth but was the first non-South African across the line, so (she) has qualified to represent Zimbabwe at the Triathlon World Championships this August in Lausanne, Switzerland.

‘’It’s a great opportunity for her, especially being only 17 years old and racing Under-19. Mikayla came 13th.

“It was the most exciting race I have seen in a long time, where the Zimbabwe team showed true sportsmanship and team spirit.

‘’I could not be more proud of our team who are younger in age than all the other teams,” said Fulton.

Fulton said although Denslow missed out on qualification for the World Championships, he did his best.

“In the men’s field Matt had also really hoped to qualify for the Worlds but unfortunately had a tyre puncture wasting a lot of time but still managing to finish 16th.

“Luke Hacker had a good race, finishing eighth, which is brilliant considering he is only 16 this year.

‘’Luke Steffens, also 16, raced well, finishing 11th. “In the team relay Andie had a good solid race placing Zimbabwe second by 30seconds behind South Africa.

‘’She tagged Matt, who also had a good solid race keeping Zimbabwe in second place by 18 seconds,’’ said Fulton.

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