Three Bloemfontein hotshot triathletes (swimming, cycling and running), Angelique Moller (Eunice), Madelaine le Roux (Sentraal) and Jayme-Sue Vermaas (Oranje) gave good account of themselves at the recent world schools triathlon championships which was staged in Versailes in France.
Of the three mentioned ladies from the City of Roses, only Moller could manage to bag a medal at the championships where they represented the South African (SA) schools team.
Moller and her fellow SA team members, Gizelda Strauss, Jamie Riddle and Ben de la Porte took on the rest the world had on offer in the team event on the second day of the championships in the 15 to 16 years age group. Moller and her team mates pocketed the silver medal and only the hosts, France got the better of them.
Strong triathlon countries such as Germany and Russia could not stop the mentioned SA team to bring home silverware.
The first day of the championships saw the individual events taking place and this is where Le Roux finished in an outstanding fifth position in a time of 1:06:19 (17 to 18 years). Vermaas (1:06:19) finished in a respectable eighth position and was a mere ten seconds behind Le Roux.
Moller managed to finish tenth in the individual race for girls 15 to 16 years.
It is interesting to note that the once best women triathlete in Africa and former pupil from Eunice, Kate Roberts was one of the team managers at the championships.
Roberts stated (www.sascoc.co.za) that they had a wonderful championships with three medals in the bag. The twice Olympic Games triathlete, Roberts added: “All athletes raced exceptionally well in very competitive fields and made triathlon South Africa incredibly proud”.
Before she retired, Roberts was at a stage among the top-10 elite women triathletes in the world and represented the Rainbow Nation at the Olympics in Beijing (2008) where she finished 32nd and London (2012) where she crossed the line in ten positions better (22nd).
