Colegrave picks bronze at Africa Cup

ZIMBABWE’S Mikayla Colegrave finished third in the Junior Women at the 2021 Africa Triathlon Cup in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Colegrave came home in 1 hour 11 minutes 12 seconds.

South Africa’s Jenna Seymour-Smith won the race, in 1 hour 8 minutes, and Egypt’s Maram Yasser Elshafei was second, in 1 hour 9 minutes 08 seconds.

She had a slow start in the swim but, with her strength on the bike, Colegrave did a good job, closing the gap, and making sure she made the top three.

National coach, Pamela Fulton, was impressed with the Colegrave’s performance.

“She had an outstanding race and her plan, right from the beginning, is that she knew her swimming will be her weakness,’’ said Fulton.

“So, she just wanted to do the best she could possibly do and then refocus her mind on the rest of the race.

“She is confident on her bike.

“She pulled herself from near the back of the field of the swim to third of the bike and she managed to maintain that position on the run.

“So, a very good steady race for her, which has given her huge confidence for this coming weekend’s event.”

It should be a boost for Colegrave, as she is set to return onto the course this coming weekend, at the Africa Championships set for Sharm El Sheikh.

She will be leading Team Zimbabwe as the captain.

“It’s really quite a tough race, its very technical, the water, although it’s pretty flat it does become quite choppy because the wind really do pick up,’’ said Fulton.

“So it’s hard with a bit of a current and the bike is very challenging.

“But, for athletes like Mikayla, who know their strength is on the bike, she knows she will do well there and, looking at her results this week, it’s going to be a different field next weekend, with a lot more South Africans.

“I know Mikayla is now really excited for this coming weekend and she believes in herself and she really knows the course.’’

For Colegrave, Saturday’s performance was an improvement from last year when she came fifth, at the 2020 Troutbeck ATU Triathlon Junior African Cup, in Zimbabwe.

Matthew Denslow finished in 34th place in the Elite Men, in 1 hour 8 minutes 38 seconds.

“Unfortunately, with Matt, he did develop a stomach bug, the day before the race, and it’s not ideal race preparation.

“He did go into the race probably a bit dehydrated and not with as much nutrition as he had hoped for.

“And, that definitely did impact on his race, you could tell right from the beginning, he wasn’t up there with the pack where he should have been,” Fulton said.