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Ellina Mhlanga–Senior Sports Reporter 

ZIMBABWE’S Youth Under-15 girls dominated their category at the Africa Triathlon Championships when claiming the top three spots over the weekend in Agadir, Morocco. 

The championships began on Saturday with the individual races and were set to end yesterday with the mixed relays. 

The trio of Anje Van As, Nicole Madya and Tayleigh Taylor impressed at the continental showpiece when picking up medals in the Youth Under-15 Girls race consisting of a 350m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run.

It was a Zimbabwean affair with Van As claiming first position in 36 minutes 59 seconds to clinch gold.

Madya won a silver medal when coming second in 38 minutes 30 seconds and Taylor came in on third place in 39 minutes 21 seconds to win bronze.  

Van As proved she is a force to reckon with having won gold in the same category last year.

Madya was making her debut appearance at the event. 

However, it was a different case in the boys’ section as Callum Smith finished on position five in 36 minutes 11 seconds and Rohnan Nicholson was sixth in 36 minutes 40 seconds. 

Going into the event, both Smith and Nicholson said they were looking forward to the experience and learning since it was their first time to take part in the championships.

Morocco’s Omar Othmane Goumghar and Ilyas Tafarki were first and second in 33 minutes 27 seconds and 35 minutes 17 seconds respectively. On third place was Senegal’s Malick Diop in 35 minutes 52 seconds. 

In the Junior Men Sprint event consisting of a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run, the pair Zimbabwean of Matipa Mawere and George Ascott found the going tough. 

Mawere finished on position nine in 1 hour 10 minutes 18 seconds while Ascott settled for position 10 in 1 hour 12 minutes 36 seconds. 

South Africa’s Shaun Wolfaardt won the race in 1 hour 1 minute 24 seconds. The pair of Mohamed Aziz Hamdi and Dawser Rezgui from Tunisia were second and third respectively. 

In the Junior Women, the best performance by a Zimbabwean athlete was from Makanaka Mawere, who finished fifth in 1 hour 15 minutes 44 seconds. 

Brooklyn Tippett was placed seventh in 1 hour 17 minutes 49 seconds and Emma Lidsba settled for position eight in 1 hour 20 minutes 49 seconds. 

South Africa dominated in this category, claiming the top four positions, 

First to cross the finish line was Anika Visser in 1 hour 9 minutes 32 seconds. She was followed by Kadence Ribbink in 1 hour 10 minutes 48 seconds and Kiara Herman was third in 1 hour 14 minutes 43 seconds. Mia Van Der Veen was fourth in 1 hour 15 minutes 4 seconds. 

United States-based Andie Kuipers was placed fourth in the Under-23 Women, when completing the 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run in 2 hours 28 minutes 56 seconds. 

Zimbabwe had 11 athletes taking part at the championships.