In addition to the African titles over the Olympic distance, which were claimed by Vicky Van Der Merwe and Jamie Riddle, the African Junior Championships were contested in Hurghada, Egypt.
Coming away with the win in the women’s race was Maja Jeanne Brinkmann.
Born in 2007, Brinkmann was the youngest athlete in the field. Some of her rivals were up to three years older than her and some, such as Nora Nouri of Morocco, had experience of racing in the French Grand Prix to call upon.
However, Brinkmann proved unfazed and the Namibian athlete powered to victory by 28 seconds. Her win was the first of her nascent international career. The African Championships marked only her fourth international start after making her debut at the African Junior Cup in Nelson Mandela Bay back in March.
Since her first race (where she finished 10th), Brinkmann has been gathering momentum. A silver medal followed at the African Junior Cup in Swakopmund (a home race as a Namibian athlete). Then she added a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in August.
Victory in Hurghada therefore caps a very promising season for the youngster. Moreover, not only is her triumph a personal success, it will provide a significant jolt of optimism for triathlon in Namibia more broadly.
The silver medal went to Kadence Ribbink. Ribbink had finished 4th behind Brinkmann at the Commonwealth Youth Games although she had beaten her in both Nelson Mandela Bay and Swakopmund. The two proved equally matched for much of the race, yet Brinkmann had enough left in the tank to get over the line first.
Nouri then sealed the bronze medal, finishing 51 seconds behind Ribbink.
In the men’s race, the podium was actually swept by non-African athletes. Eli McWard of America took the win, beating Adnan Zaki of Syria by 34 seconds. Hudson Hamilton, another American athlete, finished 5 seconds later to earn 3rd place.
The highest African finisher, and thus the African Junior champion, was Zakaria Chtioui of Tunisia. He finished 4th, 47 seconds away from the podium.
Having represented Tunisia at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg in July, Chtioui was among the favourites to claim the African title. Although his success could have been sweeter by making it onto the podium, it nevertheless represents an important step forward in his career.
Born in 2004, Chtioui will be ageing up in the U23 ranks in 2024. As such, Hurghada stood as his final chance to make his mark at the Junior level. By taking the continental crown, he did exactly that.
The silver medal went to Chtioui’s compatriot, Mohamed Aziz Hamdi. The African Junior Championships silver medallist in 2022, Hamdi finished 1 minute 40 seconds behind Chtioui in Hurghada.
Youssef Mohammed of Egypt was then the third best African finisher in the men’s race.
You can view the full results here.
