A Team of four of our Elite RSA athletes took part in the 2016 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships over the past weekend. South Africa did a sterling job, fighting right up to the end.

The mixed relay event is a fast paced event consisting of four legs completed by four individuals (mixed male and female). The sprint distance for each leg comprises a: 0,5 km Swim, 22 km Bike and a 5 km Run. 16 Teams competed in this event.

Marie Rabie lined up at the start for leg 1 of the relay. She exited the water in 9th position, 4 seconds down on France’s lead. Rabie exited the bike leg in the lead group, 1 sec from the front. She finished the run leg in 7th position, together with Great Brittain, to hand over to Henri Schoeman with a 35 sec deficit.

Schoeman’s swim pushed the South African team into 4th position, 33 seconds from USA’s lead. He entered T2 in 3d position in the chase group, 29 seconds from Kanute’s (USA) one-man lead. Schoeman had a sterling run leg and managed to push the RSA team into 3d position with only a 49 second deficit to the lead, where Gillian Sanders took over the reigns from Schoeman.

Sanders exited the swim leg in 3d position, 1min05sec behind Korea’s lead. She entered T2 in 3d position in the chase group, 52 seconds down on USA’s one man lead. Sanders had a solid run leg after which she handed over to Wian Sullwald with a 38 second gap to USA’s lead.

Sullwald managed to close the gap to the USA with three seconds in his swim leg.  He entered T2 in 5th position in the chase group, 48 seconds behind USA still leading solo on the bike. Sullwald crossed the finish line in 7th position, 41 seconds after USA’s winning time.