Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
AHEAD of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup to be held in April, Triathlon Zimbabwe and its partners held a training workshop for journalists on Monday to help them in their coverage of triathlon in general and the forthcoming Bonaqua competition.
Journalists from various media houses attended the Bonaqua Triathlon media workshop held at Holiday Inn in Harare.
Speakers at the workshop included Zimbabwe Olympic Committee president Thabani Gonye, Triathlon Association Zimbabwe president David Ellis, Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup organiser Rick Fulton and representatives from the sponsors. Coca-Cola are the main sponsors through the Bonaqua water brand.
The agenda for the workshop was to refresh the media about triathlon and also looked at the 2023 edition of the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon Cup to be held in Nyanga on April 1.
Fulton said that the cup promises to be a thriller with stiff competition following an increase in the number of participants.
“An international field consisting of elite men and elite women is expected to registered to compete in the Bonaqua African Triathlon Union (ATU), making this years’ edition, one of the biggest entries ever for the cup. Athletes are coming from Africa and outside the continent,” said Fulton.
Coca-Cola Zimbabwe franchise, marketing portfolio activations manager Faith Nehanda said they are proud to be associated with the triathlon competition as it plays a part in promoting sport and tourism.
“As the Coca-Cola Company and our bottling partner, Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited, we are pleased to sponsor this event which has been of great value to the country and to the athletes. Triathlon has been a good model when it comes to promoting sports tourism,” she said.
Apart from the elite and junior races, other events on the day include an African Cross-Triathlon (Off-Road) Championship, Cimas Corporate Triathlon Challenge, Zimbabwe Triathlon Championships over a number of events, Tri-Kidz and Trisports triathlon, Aquathlon (run-swim-run) and an Open Water Swim, all under the banner of the Bonaqua Troutbeck Multisport Festival.
This year marks the sixth anniversary of Bonaqua as the official title sponsor although Coca-Cola has been involved with the sport for nine years with Schweppes water. Bonaqua Water is bottled by Schweppes Zimbabwe limited on behalf of Coca-Cola.
The Bonaqua Troutbeck African Triathlon Union (ATU) is sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union (ITU). It is a world ranking points for elite athletes within the ITU ranking system. This means that the points scored by elite athletes will ultimately become Olympic Ranking Qualification points for the 2024 Olympics.
