Richard Murray and Barbara De Koning from the Netherlands won the elite men and women’s categories of the 2023 African Triathlon Cup which took place in Swakopmund over the weekend.

Murray completed his combined race in 57 minutes, while De Koning completed it in one hour, five minutes and nine seconds.

Denmark’s Emil Holm and Matthew Wright were in second and third position respectively for the elite men. Rachel Klamer from the Netherlands and Slovakia’s Romana Gajdosova were first and second runners-up in the elite women’s category.

Speaking to the media after his race, Murray expressed his joy at winning after he had not been able to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to his health.

“Two years ago I had serious heart surgery and I was not sure I would be able to come back and compete, so I feel really happy for this win as it has been a long time since I have had such a good race,” he said.

De Koning was also happy with the race course as well as the weather conditions during their race.

Murray will be competing in Japan’s Yokohama race next month, while De Koning is headed to Zimbabwe for a competition next week.

President of the Namibia Triathlon Federation (NTF), Roual Spangenberg described the event as a success, adding that the attendance by both local and international athletes was satisfactory.

Over 140 athletes took part in the race, with 65 being international athletes.

“These races enabled us to pick two athletes who will represent Namibia at the Youth Commonwealth Games later this year. The NTF is committed to bringing international athletes to Namibia and we aim to go bigger every year. Our dream is to host the Iron Man event in Swakopmund, hopefully by 2025.”

The race consisted of a two-lap 720 metres swim sprint race followed by a 20 kilometre bike course and five-kilometre run.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency