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German Athletes succeed at Triathlon race in Zimbabwe
Justus Nieschlag and Nina Eim won gold medals in the elite’s category of the Bonaqua Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup while local athlete Matthew Denslow finished first at the youth Triathlon.
The German duo of Justus Nieschlag and Nina Eim won gold medals in the men’s respectively the women’s elite categories while their compatriot Maximillian Schwetz won a silver medal in the men’s category at the Bonaqua Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup in the Zimbabwean resort town of Nyanga on Saturday.
Nieschlag and Eim’s victories continued Germany’s dominance at the event where Jonas Breilinger and Jonas Schomburg came first in the elite men’s category in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Breinlinger missed this year’s race in Zimbabwe after he was taken ill in Cape Town, South Africa, where he took part in the Discovery Triathlon World Cup and flew back home for Treatment.
Nieschlag, 26, a member of the German triathlon team and Junior European Champion of the year 2011, was first in the swim and maintained his lead until finish.
His national team counterpart Schwetz, 28, was third out of the swim but managed to overtake one athlete to finish second Overall.
Twenty-year-old Eim recovered from a slow start in the 750-metre swim leg and shrugged off a tough challenge from South Africa’s Amber Schlebusch and Irish two-time champion Carolyn Hayes to come first in the elite women’s category.
“It was a great race for me,” an elated Eim told reporters at the end of the race. “I haven’t done such a hilly race before so I was really excited. Normally, I don’t like the hills that much but the race went really well and I am really happy with it. The run was absolutely the toughest.”
Nieschlag said after the race: “Maximilian and I are taught by the same coach so I knew he can swim really fast and also do well on the bike. We tried to ride as hard as we could from the beginning to get a really big gap and maybe end up with an easy finish. But it wasn’t easy at all.”
The event in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe drew athletes from Germany, South Africa, Czech Republic, Ireland, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritius and the host country Zimbabwe. Nineteen men and seven women took to the pool, cycle track before finishing with a sprint.
Zimbabwe's Matthew Denslow won a gold medal in the inaugural Bonaqua ATU Junior Africa Cup while his compatriot Mikalya Colgrave won a silver medal in the junior women’s category.
©GIC Africa