BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE IN NYANGA
BUDDING female triathlete Brooklyn Tippett was the country’s best performer at the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup after finishing third in the junior elite category at Troutbeck Resort yesterday.
Tippett defied the odds after she came out of the water last but managed to recover for to win a bronze medal at the flagship triathlon event.
However, Tippet benefitted from a top junior Makanaka Mawere who was affected by a mechanical fault on her bike and also had to recover to finish the race in fourth place.
South Africans Kadance Ribbink and Mia Van Der Veen finished first and second respectively.
“I came out last in the swimming. Swimming is not my biggest strength. My cycle was very good and my run too. I had a penalty but there was no one right behind me so I think I did a lot better than saipected,” an elated Tippett said after the race.
In the junior elite race Matipa Mawere missed out on a medal position after he finished fourth in a race dominated by the South Africans.
Shaun Wolfaardt won the competition while his compatriots Christian Hattingh and Francois De Villiers were second and third respectively.
Zimbabwe’s representative in the elite women elite class, veteran finished fifth in what was her swansong at the event.
Slovakia’s Ivana Kuriackova won gold in the elite women class while South Africans Shanae Williams and defending champion Hannah Newman settled for silver and bronze respectively.
The elite men class was also a South African show and was won by inform Jamie Riddle with Christiaan Stroebel and Dylan Nortje took up the podium places in that order.