With the championships returning to Hurghada, Egypt, the African titles over the Olympic distance were on the line at the weekend. In warm conditions, with wetsuits not permitted and the air temperature hovering in the mid-twenties (Celsius), a pair of tough races unfolded.
Women’s race
It was a question of rinse and repeat from the 2023 African Championships. Vicky Van Der Merwe was dominant in the women’s race as she powered to victory by over 9 minutes.
A field-leading swim split of 22:11 over the 1500m had earned her a comfortable lead of 38 seconds. However, on the bike, Andie Kuipers of Zimbabwe would close the gap and ride up to Van Der Merwe. Together, the lead duo built an advantage of over 10 minutes over the rest of the field.
Once out of T2, Van Der Merwe quickly blasted ahead. She clocked 36:10 to Kuipers’ 45:34 over the 10km run and thus won with a jaw-dropping margin of victory. Kuipers held on to claim 2nd place while Julie Staub was the best of the rest and finished in 3rd place.
Men’s race
The men’s race was a closer affair. Zakaria Chtioui of Tunisia, in his first year out of the Junior ranks, led the swim in 17:06. Alexander Bozhilov of Bulgaria (who was not eligible for the African title) was with Chtioui into T1. Mohamed Aziz Hamdi followed around 10 seconds later and then a large gap appeared to the chasers.
Smart work early on during the bike helped Hamdi bridge to the two leaders. From there, he rode well with his compatriot Chtioui. Over the course of the 40km, they were joined by Jean Gael Laurent L`entete of Mauritius and Merwann Abassi of Morocco. In the absence of the 2023 African Sprint champion Jawad Abdelmoula, Abassi was flying the flag for Morocco. Meanwhile, L`entete was looking to secure his grasp on the African Olympic New Flag slot.
The five leaders dropped the rest of the field and seemed set to secure the medals.
Once onto the run, Abassi broke clear and strode away to victory. His time of 33:54 over the 10km was the only sub-35 minute performance by the lead quintet. The silver medal, though, was actually claimed by an athlete from the chase group. Mohamed Nemsi of Morocco logged 33:22 over the 10km to take both the top split of the day and 2nd place. He would finish over 90 seconds behind Abassi.
Chtioui then held on for a strong bronze medal, crossing the line 40 seconds after Nemsi.
You can view the full results here.
