AS another Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup beckons, the event director, Rick Fulton, is happy that the event is playing a crucial role in the development of athletes as some of the participants have gone all the way to compete at bigger platforms such as the recent Tokyo Olympics.
Last year, 10 male and seven female athletes, who had previously competed at the Nyanga meet, participated at the Summer Games.
The 14th edition of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup will be staged on April 2 at Troutbeck in Nyanga.
So far 30 international athletes from countries such as Germany, South Africa, Poland, Japan, Mauritius, Namibia and hosts Zimbabwe have confirmed their participation.
Speaking at a media briefing during the launch of this year’s event in the capital yesterday, Fulton said the competition presents a perfect platform for the young athletes to work on their Olympic ranking qualifications.
Several partners, including title sponsors Coca Cola Africa and Schweppes Zimbabwe through their Bonaqua water brand, Cimas’ iGo, Toyota Zimbabwe, African Sun Hotels, Troutbeck Inn Resort, and new sponsor on board, Ecocash Holdings, are part of this year’s event.
“The event has a huge legacy . . . At the Tokyo Olympics on the start line for the men’s race, 10 of the athletes had raced previously at Troutbeck. So this is a great legacy, and there were six or seven women on the start line in Tokyo, who had also raced at Troutbeck,” said Fulton.
“So this is an opportunity for everybody to compete at the big stage, a huge opportunity for the development of our athletes.
“This is an opportunity for international and local athletes to be able to compete at this venue. It is a magnificent location and we are very grateful to be able to host this event here in Zimbabwe for so many years with the buy-in of African Sun and Troutbeck,” Fulton said.
The elite athletes competing in the event get world ranking points for the International Triathlon Union (ITU) ranking system. This means that the points scored by athletes will ultimately become Olympic ranking qualification points.
Fulton said Troutbeck was the ideal venue that, however, required huge planning and was a logistical adventure.
“As we all know the reason we have to have the event at Troutbeck is because of the situation with regards to the water that the athletes have to swim in.
“This is the only safe piece of water in the whole of Zimbabwe, where we can host such an event, and we are obliged to carry out very stringent international triathlon good quality tests to make sure that the athletes are completely safe.
“And, Troutbeck is the only venue where we can actually do those without the threat of diseased water, also crocodiles, hippopotamus, and any other creatures unfortunately quite common in African waters,” said Fulton.
Triathlon Zimbabwe president, David Ellis, is hopeful that this year’s edition would be spectacular and commended the sponsors for assisting them and making sure the sport continues to grow.
Coca-Cola frontline marketing manager, Faith Nehanda, said they remained committed to the development of Zimbabwean sport.
“We are proud to be the title sponsor of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon, a global event sanctioned by the International Union.
“This event is a perfect match with our Bonaqua water brand, which has been recognised on many occasions as the best bottled still water in Zimbabwe.
“This is our sixth anniversary for Bonaqua as the official title sponsor. This alone demonstrates our commitment to sports development in Zimbabwe. Sport and entertainment partnerships are part of our DNA as the Coca-Cola Company,” said Nehanda.
Cimas’ iGo fitness manager, Isabel Mlothswa, said by partnering with Triathlon Zimbabwe, they wanted to promote healthy lifestyles.
“Our objective for this sponsorship is to educate on wellness and healthy living through the iGo wellness programme. The second thing is obviously brand awareness. We want to increase brand awareness and visibility, and we want iGo to be synonymous with wellness.
“Our last objective is the growth, obviously, we sponsor the corporate challenge so we hope to increase that corporate participation in this season and invite all corporates that are out there, and even teams which are not corporates, to participate this season,” said Mlotshwa.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Another sponsor, Toyota Marketing co-ordinator Patience Gondonga, said they were happy to be associated with an organised association through mobility and lifestyle.
“Toyota supports many initiatives that look to help communities to become mobile and enjoy life. The other driving factor for supporting triathlon is that Toyota is able to make winning partnerships.
“Toyota was the main sponsor for the recent Olympics and Paralympics in Japan, and the partnership between Toyota Zimbabwe and Triathlon Zimbabwe is another winning combination. Toyota Zimbabwe are proud to support a well-organised organisation,” said Gondonga.
Ecocash Holdings Head of Marketing, Gordon Pemba, said as new partners they are excited and looking forward to a good marriage.
African Sun Marketing Manager, Thamary Repoh, said the event had lit up the resort area of Nyanga.
“As Troutbeck Resort, we have said that we will continue working with Triathlon Zimbabwe because of the great organisation of international standards and we will continue supporting.
“We have been hosting this event for over 15 years and we will continue hosting this event,” said Repoh.