Namibia’s triathlon athlete Divan du Plooy finished 25th out of 46 athletes that started the race at the Commonwealth Games underway in Birmingham, England.

The 20-year-old Namibian athlete who made his maiden appearance at the Games, was five minutes behind the race winner Alex Yee who represented team England.

Yee by crossing the finish line first in the men’s individual triathlon on Friday also became the first athlete to win the first gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

In an interview with Nampa after the race, the Namibian athlete Du Plooy said he was happy with his performance on the day.

“These are my first Commonwealth Games and as they always say in triathlon, you must always finish below your race number and I am happy to see that I started 26th and finished 25th,” he said.

Du Plooy added that the heat during the race made it difficult for him to catch up to the leading pack.

“These guys can swim like fish and are very fast when it comes to swimming, but after the swim, I did my best to keep up with them in the cycling. However, the heat today made it very difficult. In the running, there was a hill that I believe is steeper than all the hills in Namibia which made work hard for me, but I am happy to have crossed the finish line,” said Du Plooy.

The young Namibian stated that this was a learning step and he will use the experience gained to his advantage for future events.

“The experience I gained while competing with the elite athletes for the first time will help me improve for future competitions. I am not part of the Namibian relay triathlon team but I am wishing my teammates all the best as it’s tough out there,” he also noted.

Namibia female triathlon athletes Anri Krugel and Imke Jagau are competing in the individual women’s event Friday afternoon.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency