Danica Bonello Spiteri earns place for 2021 World Championships

Triathlete Danica Bonello Spiteri set her mark last weekend in Turkey after finishing in third place overall and First in her age group 35-39 years, in Antalya Turkey at the Ironman 70.3 International Triathlon. All this, just over a year after giving birth to her first daughter.

This event attracted most of Europe’s high profile athletes in this discipline, being one of only a few Ironman 70.3 events that was allowed to be staged due to the coronavirus pandemic. An Ironman 70.3 triathlon consists of 1.9km swim followed by a 90km cycle and a 21.1km run, totalling 113km.

The event fielded 821 contestants hailing from over 55 countries of which 127 were female. Athletes were categorised by age groups.

Bonello Spiteri was not phased by the grandeur of the event having been one of Malta’s top achievers in elite triathlon competitions and previously represented Malta at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and European Games in Baku.

However this was her first high profile international outing following the birth of her child, 14 months ago, and also the first time she has attempted to race the 70.3 race distance.

Bonello Spiteri came out of the swim in fifth place as she cycled solidly the 90km bike segment, it was in the final run that Danica upped her pace as she gained ground, crossing the line in third place overall and a merited first pace in her age category.

She covered the distance in 4:31.34, she was followed by Olen Zhushman, who represented Ukraine in the Olympics and Nicole Boyd of the UK.

With this result Danica earned a spot at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships which will be held next September in Utah, USA. Her time is one of the best timings for a Maltese athlete ever, over this distance.

“I have put a lot of effort to return to this level, as my body changed considerably with the pregnancy. However I do see more space for improvement, especially as it was my first time tackling this distance, but this result gives me confidence.

This would not have been possible without the help of my family and my training companions from Elite Sports Triathlon Team who support each other and have also raced brilliantly out there today’, Danica said in a comment after the race.

Asked about her race she said ‘The swim was very strange as athletes were set off every six seconds and I could not see my direct competitors at any point during the race. In fact I had no idea that 2nd place was less than a minute ahead of me. Had I known, I would have probably found some more energy in the final run segment! We had to deal with some strong headwinds in the bike but I still had energy to lift up the pace in the final run to finish strongly. A podium place in this competition is a massive result for me personally and for Maltese triathlon’.