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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
MEMBERS of the TEAM Zimbabwe taking part in the Africa Triathlon Championships this weekend arrived in Egypt yesterday.

They will battle for honours against other top athletes from the continent.

The competition is set from Friday to Sunday.

Zimbabwe will field a 10-member team and Joshua Jacobs, Duwan Botha, Matipa Mawere, Emma Lidsba and Anje Van As left the country on Monday evening.

They were accompanied by tour manager, Tracey Jacobs.

They will be competing in the Under-23 Elite Men, Under-19 Junior Female, Youth Under-17 Male and Under-15 Male and Female.

They join Matthew Denslow, Mikayla Colegrave, Makanaka Mawere, Austin Jill and coach Pamela Fulton, who were already in Egypt.

United States-based athlete, Andie Kuipers, is expected to fly from her base today.

Denslow and Colegrave, who is Team Zimbabwe’s captain for the Championships, competed in the 2021 Africa Triathlon Cup in Sharm El Sheikh, last weekend.

Colegrave took part in the Junior Women event, where she won a bronze medal, while Denslow was part of the field in the Elite Men, and finished on position 34.

Makanaka Mawere is attending the ATU Junior Development camp, which got underway on Saturday, and will join her teammates for the competition.

The camp, which is being led by Fulton, and her South African counterpart Riana Robertson, ends tomorrow.

After Colegrave’s impressive show in the Africa Cup, she will be hoping to carry her fine form into the championships.

Coach Fulton is also hopeful, Denslow, who was feeling well, going into his race over the weekend, would have recovered to compete at his best, on Sunday.

“Hopefully, this week, he will be able to sort himself out and get his health back to normal and refocus again and look at this coming event as a completely new event.

“He has raced the course already so he does have the advantage over other athletes in that he does know how to approach the technical sections on the bike.

“And, the bike is a very strong section for Matt as Mikayla.

“So, this last weekend would have definitely helped him there, knowing how to race the course.

“But, he does need to just refocus, and look at this coming race, as a different event and do the best that he can this coming weekend,” said Fulton.

Kuipers, who represented the country at the World Championships in the Under-19 category in Switzerland, in 2019, will also be out to try and qualify for the global event again this year.

She is still Under-19.

Team

Under-23 Elite Male: Matthew Denslow.

Under-19 Junior Female: Mikayla Colegrave (captain), Andie Kuipers, Makanaka Mawere.

Youth Under-17 male: Austin Gill.

Youth Under-15 male: Joshua Jacobs, Matipa Mawere, Duwan Botha.

Youth Under-15 female: Emma Lidsba, Anje Van As.