Bay athletes bring home eight medals
FOR the first time, the Nelson Mandela Bay Modern Pentathlon Association (NMBMPA) sent seven- and eight-year-old athletes to the Biathle and Triathle World Championships in Georgia, and both finished in podium positions.
The youngest, Ludgen le Roux from Summerwood Primary, is ranked third in the world and Jayson Archibald from Grey Junior is ranked second in the world for biathle.
He was rewarded with a silver medal for his efforts at the championships in Batumi, Georgia at the weekend.
Both boys returned with gold medals for the team event in their age group.
Five of the Bay’s top athletes represented the South African team in their respective age groups at the championships and brought home eight medals.
Biathle is a continuous runswim-run event and a development discipline of modern pentathlon, which comprises running, swimming, show jumping, fencing and laser pistol shooting.
Triathle is a new development sport practiced for the first time in the Bay this year, which is continuous shooting, running and swimming in laps.
NMBMPA secretary and biathle coordinator Yolanda de Lange said: “The Bay has had tremendous growth in biathle this season, with no less than 16 Bay athletes ranking in the top 10 in the country.
“The Eastern Cape Province shared the trophy of being the best biathle province with rivals Gauteng.
“I am super proud of Jayson and Ludgen as they have come a long way from not making any cut-off times to going to world champs and flying the flag high for the Bay.”
Jessica Beukes, 14, of Pearson High and also a top-ranked Bay swimmer, finished fourth in the world and achieved a gold medal for the team event. Jamie-Lee Schlemmer, a NMMU student, ended with a bronze medal.
Gareth Vorster, from Cradock High School, came home with two gold team event medals for both biathle and triathle, which was held the day before the biathle.
Vorster was the first athlete to represent the Bay at the Triathle World Championships and also the only athlete from the region to qualify.
‘ The Bay has had tremendous growth in biathle this season