Triathletes targeting Tokyo 2020
THE RACE towards qualifying for the Tokyo
2020 Olympic Games will start for three of South Africa’s top triathletes at the WTS Yokohama this weekend.
Commonwealth Games champion Henri Schoeman, Richard Murray and Wian Sullwald will all line up at the third leg of the World Triathlon Series on Saturday.
To secure the maximum of three quota places the South Africans would need to have three athletes within the top 30 places of the International Triathlon Union’s individual Olympic qualification rankings by May 11, 2020.
Schoeman is currently in second place on the WTS rankings after finishing eight at the Bermuda leg two weeks ago.
He has been the form athlete this season after a dominant performance at the opening leg of the World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi.
The South African took his hot form into the Commonwealth Games where he won the country’s first gold medal in the swimcycle-run event in Australia.
Spaniard Mario Mola leapfrogged Schoeman to the top of the WTS rankings after finishing fourth in Bermuda.
Murray’s ranking took a bit of a knock after he retired during the running leg of the Bermuda race as a precautionary measure due to a sore back.
He opened his season on a high, capturing the
Cape Town World Cup and Mooloolaba titles before finishing in sixth place at the Commonwealth
Games.
Former world junior champion Sullwald has been battling to get his season off the ground and will be looking for a good result in what would be only his third race of the season.
Sullwald finished 20th at the Commonwealth Games and did not complete the race at the New Plymouth World Cup in March.
CHELSEA head coach Antonio Conte defended his record over the past two seasons and said yesterday that he had succeeded in building a platform for success at the London club.
The Italian took over after a season in which Chelsea finished 10th and led the team to the Premier League title in his first campaign in charge. That success has not been repeated in the current campaign and though Chelsea have reached the FA Cup final, the club is likely to miss out on a place in the top four in their final league match of the season at Newcastle United tomorrow.
“For sure, we worked two years and worked very hard to try to build something, to create a base,” Conte said. “I think we did this.
“I’m the last person to judge the moment of the club. My task is to work, to do my job in the best possible way, and to work very hard with this team, with these players for the fans. Other people will judge our position.”
Fifth-placed Chelsea must beat Newcastle and hope Liverpool lose to Brighton and Hove Albion to secure Champions League football, but Conte said failing to finish in the top four was always a risk given the competition in England.
“Don’t forget two years ago, Chelsea ended the season 10th and not in the FA Cup final, not in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, and they were eliminated in the last 16 against PSG in the Champions League. It can happen,” he added.
“But last season, we won the league. It was difficult. We worked very hard, but we won it ... Now, probably, you can finish fifth and start with a bit of an advantage compared to when you finish 10th.”
Conte’s future is under a cloud given the team’s failure to defend their title. British media have reported that he has a strained relationship with members of the club’s hierarchy.
The Italian, however, said he paid no attention to speculation.
“I always said to you, my only thought is to do my job in the best possible way. To work very hard with my players,” he added. “This is my only worry. Since the start of the first game, I think ... the time I start listening to the speculation about me, this is the moment I start to be worried.”
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion caretaker manager Darren Moore says no one could have predicted the team’s shambolic Premier League season but is content with the positive results achieved during his short reign despite the failure to stave off relegation.
West Brom started the season with two consecutive victories but only managed to win the same number of games in their next 32 matches during a dismal run that eventually led to the departure of manager Alan Pardew and a bottom-three finish.
Three of the club’s six wins this season have come since Moore took charge in April, with the 44-year-old leading West Brom to victories over Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
“It’s been a bizarre season. I don’t think anybody could have foreseen what was ahead,” Moore said yesterday.
“We’ve come together. We can all agree that we’ve finished on a positive note.
“Momentum is very, very important. It’s good to finish the season on a high, which I think we have done. We want to keep the positive mentality here.”
West Brom’s unbeaten record under Moore helped the former defender clinch the Premier League Manager of the Month award on Tuesday but the Baggies’ relegation was confirmed hours later following Southampton’s win over Swansea City.
Moore backed Burnley’s Sean Dyche to win the Premier League Manager of the Year award, over title-winning Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, after leading the Lancashire outfit to a seventh-placed finish and sealing Europa League qualification.
“Sean’s done superbly – he really has been superb,” he added.
“If I had to pick one, I’d have to say Sean, for getting to the Europa League. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s been consistent with his ways, his views.”
West Brom will be travelling with an almost fully fit squad, with the exception of longterm absentees Gareth Barry and James Morrison, for tomorrow’s last league match at Crystal Palace.