Swakop set for Africa Triathlon Cup

For the third time, Swakopmund will host the famous Africa Triathlon Cup on Saturday at the Mole beach.

Triathletes travel from all over the world to take part in this prestigious event in search of ranking points of the International Triathlon Union, with the likes of Netherlands, Austria, Japan, Finland and other African countries featuring.

Last year’s elite men’s winner, former South African veteran Richard Murray now representing the Netherlands since March 2022, is back to defend his title against a field that does not include many others from the 2023 event.

A fourth place at the 2016 Olympics are among the many highlights of Murray’s career, as the experienced 35-year-old chases another Olympics qualification.

It will be a new competition in the elite women’s category with none of the top three of last year taking part this year.

This year elite athletes have their eyes set on qualifying and taking part in the 2024 Olympics to be held in France’s capital Paris. Spectators and broadcast viewers can therefore expect a riveting competition.

Kadence Ribbink (RSA) who won the junior women’s race in 2023, has her eyes set on first place again in a rematch with Namibia’s ever-improving Maja Brinkmann who took second place last year.

The participants in the races for ITU world ranking points are (start number indicated, along with year of birth):



ELITE MEN

1 Richard Murray (Netherlands, 1989)

2 Jamie Riddle (South Africa, 2000)

3 Jean Gael L’entete (Mauritius, 1996)

4 Seifeddine Selmi (Tunisia, 2001)

5 Philip Pertl (Austria, 1998)

6 Noah Künz (Austria, 2002)

7 Lukas Pertl (Austria, 1995)

8 Eloi Adjavon (Togo, 1992)

9 Nicholas Quenet (South Africa, 1997)

10 Dan Tomiuchi (Japan, 1994)

11 Oliver Janny (Austria, 2000)

12 Joshua Steytler (South Africa, 2003)



ELITE WOMEN

21 Vicky van der Merwe (South Africa, 1989)

22 Shanae Williams (South Africa, 1998)

23 Bridget Theunissen (South Africa, 2001)

24 Marit van den Berg (Netherlands, 2001)

25 Edda Hannesdottir (Iceland, 1994)

26 Henrika Parviainen (Finland, 1997)

27 Anri Krugel (Namibia, 1995)



JUNIOR MEN

1 Nicholas Horne (South Africa, 2008)

2 Nathan Chase (Namibia, 2008)

3 Alessandro Fanicchi (South Africa, 2007)

4 Fourie Steyn (Namibia, 2008)

5 Bongani Tshabalala (South Africa, 2005)

6 Ethan Brinkmann (Namibia, 2006)

7 Terence Tengue (Central African Republic, 2005)



JUNIOR WOMEN

11 Kadence Ribbink (South Africa, 2006)

12 Lomé Gouws (South Africa, 2007)

14 Maja Brinkmann (Namibia, 2007)

15 Lysa Gbonguio (Central African Republic, 2005)

The president of the Namibia Triathlon Federation, Roual Spangenberg, said: “It’s a very different year compared to others because its Olympics year. There are still athletes who haven't qualified for the Olympic, that need points on the world rankings. So for most of those athletes this serves as a qualification race.

“I spoke to some of the South African athletes and these guys are racing for the final slots at the Olympics. So I expect these races to be quite competitive at the front.”

• The production team of Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) will be present to cover the event as Network Television (NTV) will broadcast the Africa Triathlon Cup live on DStv channel 285 and GoTV chgannel 25. The event will also be live on NTV’s online channel https://oneuptwo.com.

Viewers can tune in from 08:00, to catch the build-up and some of the best moments from last year’s Africa Triathlon Cup before the event officially kicks off.