BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE IN NYANGA
TEENAGE Triathlon prodigy Makanaka Mawere recovered from a shoulder injury to claim bronze in the junior women at the 2021 Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup at THE Troutbeck Inn Resort yesterday.
It was a second international bronze for the 17-year-old athlete in a space of three months after she made the podium in the age group event at the Africa Championship in Egypt back in June.
The rising star suffered a shoulder injury after the continental championships in Egypt and had a little over two weeks to prepare for the Troutbeck event.
Mawere finished behind defending champion and winner Kira Ribbink from South Africa, who pipped compatriot Anika Visser to the top sport.
“I am so pleased with my performance especially coming from an injury because injuries are never easy to get over. But I think this performance is just motivation for me to keep going and to show that even when you have an injury you can still push and get better, move on from that and improve as an athlete,” Mawere said after the race.
“I am really happy with the race. I did exceed my expectations I thought I was going to do a lot worse. I just hope to improve further in triathlon especially my cycling. I would like to improve that and get better at that as well as my swimming.
“But I would say my future goal is to compete on the world stage like the World Championships and actually do well once I get there. I would say that’s what I am training towards at the moment,” she said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Apart from Mawere, veteran triathlete Greer Wynn who was representing the country in the elite women race managed to finish the race to claim a bronze.
The elite race had only three competitors and was won by Hannah Newman who pushed fellow South African Bridget Theunissen into the runner up place.
In the junior men race George Asscot was the best Zimbabwe performer as his large charge saw him fail to pip Namibian Johannes Van Der Westhuisen for a bronze medal on the finish line to settle for fourth place.
On a day dominated by the South Africans, Rossow Venter won gold beating Kenyan John Makona to second place.
The biggest winner of the day was Kazakhstan’s Ayan Beisenayev who repeated his 2016 feat, by winning the elite man race while Moroccan Jawad Abdemulla was second and Divan Du Plooy from Namibia finished third.
Zimbabwe was not represented in the category this time around.
