ZIMBABWEAN athlete, Patrige Chimwendo got himself on the podium after picking up a bronze medal in the 2023 Cross Duathlon World Championships, Ibiza, Spain on Wednesday.
Chimwendo had earlier shown traits of a champion finishing sixth in the Standard Duathlon Male 20-24 Age Group at the ongoing World Triathlon Multisport Championships.
However, after “rookie mistakes”, Triathlon Zimbabwe Coach, Pam Fulton backed Chimwendo to redeem himself on Wednesday and he did.
He was seven minutes 41 seconds adrift of gold medalist, Paul Bereziartua Plaza of Spain in 1:47:37. Another Spanish athlete, Miguel Gaja Capdevila crossed the line two minutes 15 seconds behind his compatriot.
“This is such a fantastic result for Patrige and well deserved after all his hard work,” Fulton told EnterSportNews.
“Sipho (Hobane Ndlovu) and Patrige are such good Ambassadors for the sport of Duathlon in Zimbabwe and are certainly assisting us by creating awareness.
Well done to both of them this week for doing Zimbabwe and Triathlon Zimbabwe proud.”
Ndlovu finished a commendable 19th in the Male 30-34 Age Group on Sunday.
“Cross Duathlon is something Triathlon Zimbabwe has not focused on in the past as we tend to have all our races on road, but we have recently discussed and suggested adding an off road Duathlon to our calendar,” added Fulton.
“There is a large Mountain Bike community in Zimbabwe and adding this to our calendar would therefore introduce our sport to a different group of cyclists.
“Last season we resuscitated Duathlon in Zimbabwe by having a series and holding the inaugural National Championships.”
