South African triathletes ready for Commonwealth glory

South Africa’s triathlon medal prospects at the Commonwealth Games look promising after team mates Richard Murray and Henri Schoeman bagged gold and silver respectively during the elitemen’s race at the 2018 Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town, on Sunday 11 February 2018 in Green Point.

The Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town is the opening race of the 2018 International Triathlon Union (ITU) season. The event is the only World Cup triathlon event that takes place on African soil and forms part of the Discovery Get Active Weekend.

Richard Murray, who defended his title, followed closely by fellow South African Henri Schoeman, who finished second, took to the iconic blue carpet with true South African pride.

“I’m trying to get the most I can out of myself this year. The Commonwealth games are big focus this year so I just need to focus on what I need to do day in day out, train as best I can and hopefully the results come from that. Also ending up in the top three of the World Triathlon Series overall ranking,” said Murray.

Murray added that he was thrilled with the win of the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run race (in a time of 00:52:15), and that fellow Commonwealth Games team mate Henri Schoeman also had a podium finish by coming second in a time of 00:52:39. “There’s a lot more pressure in this event than some other events because being from Cape Town, family, friends and everyone comes out so they add pressure but I managed to pull it off which is great to do it in front of a home crowd. My transition wasn’t great today, that’s something I noticed and I have to work on,” said Murray.

Schoeman, an Olympic bronze medalist said second place is a fantastic start to the season. “I’m happy with my current form and I’ve got a few things to tweak leading up to the Commonwealth Games. It’s good to have this race, I know I have to work on a couple of things, especially the running. Swimming is in good shape, cycling is in good shape, I just need to get a little more fitness into the running and I will be ready in two months’ time,” added Schoeman.

The women’s elite race ended with British triathletes Vicky Holland (first place in a time of 00:58:18) and Non Stanford (second place in a time of 00:58:52) on the podium, closely followed by Hungarian Zsanette Bragmayer. South African Simone Ackermann finished in fourth place, a few seconds behind Bragmayer.

“As always, the crowd of supporters were fantastic today and came out to support all the athletes. It’s great that we had South Africans flying our flag high by securing first and second place. Richard and Henri truly made their country proud,” said Iona Maclean, Head of Experiential Marketing at Discovery.

Race director, Gary Marescia said that they are committed to offering young athletes a platform to develop their skills. “This year we were rewarded with over 300 schools and development athletes, all harnessing their multisport talent,” he said.

ENDS.

Notes to editor:

Swim/Bike/Run distance: 750m/20km/5km

Women official results:

1. Vicky Holland | GBR | 00:58:18

2. Non Stanford | GBR | 00:58:52

3. Zsanette Bragmayer | HUN | 00:59:07

Men official results:

1. Richard Murray | RSA | 00:51:33.573

2. Henri Schoeman | RSA | 00:51:41.667

3. Lukas Pertl | AUS | 00:52:49

More images and footage available on request.