ZIMBABWE elite triathlete Andi Kuipers is looking forward to participating at the African Games in Accra, Ghana, next month as it presents her with an opportunity to collect double points in her quest to make it to the Paris Olympics later this year.
The USA-based athlete, who is in her final year at Wingate University, raced her heart out finishing fifth at the recently held Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup at Troutbeck in Nyanga.
Kuipers was making her return to Troutbeck after four years since racing on the hilly course as a junior.
Her quest is to accumulate as much points as possible in her remaining five races and the African Games are her next destination.
“Double points at African Games so it's really an important race. It means a lot. It would be my third African Games and it's special to be a part of them,” Kuipers told NewsDay Sport.
“I like that I'm part of the whole Zim Team not just triathlon. I meddaled up in my last Games which was surprising for me because I was a junior.
“I would love to repeat that again but even if I don't I know there's going to be a lot of competition because of the Olympic year but I would just like to have a good day and get ranking points that I need.”
The 21-year-old athlete had to defer her studies to push for her Olympics dream. She would have been winding off her Psychology degree in May but will now finish in December.
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“It's been really nice to be home. I missed it a lot, it's been nice to have the comfort of my family as well. In terms of training, I'm really happy to be able to train at altitude because I think that helps me a lot in terms of my development and then when I go down to sea level which just makes such a big difference,” she said.
“I like that also in Harare everything is quite close, so logistically I can just go to the pool or go to the UZ track and then have a good group to ride with, it's been good.
“I needed to get early points for the Olympics, hope I did hence this race was very important for me coming up against a host of talented girls.
“Obviously I had to shrug off some rust having completed here at Troutbeck four years ago and not have done it any better. I am satisfied with how I did, it may not be the position that I looked forward to, so happy on the overall with my performance. It was not easy, no matter what position I came out, I just told myself that I needed to push harder till the end.”
Zimbabwe are sending in 83 athletes from various sports codes including triathlon, rugby, cricket, judo, swimming, chess, karate, tennis and athletics.
