South Africa has named its five-strong triathlon team for this summer’s Commonwealth Games: Richard Murray, Henri Schoeman, Wian Sullwald, Kate Roberts and Gillian Sanders.
Murray is SA’s biggest medal hope, having come second at WTS London just over a week ago, where he was narrowly outsprinted to the line by Spain’s Mario Mola. Schoeman and Sullwald recorded their best results so far on the international stage at WTS Cape Town last April, where they came 15th and 17th respectively.
In the women’s team, Roberts is a veteran of two Olympic Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012, finishing 22nd in the latter), while Sanders has been competing internationally for seven years and recently finished 10th at WTS Yokohama.
In all South Africa will be sending 155 athletes to Glasgow, competing in 15 sports ranging from aquatics to wrestling. “Glasgow is going to be tough but also great fun,” said Gideon Sam, president of the country’s governing body for sport. “Our athletes will gain tremendously from these Games and judging by the teams already announced by Australia and Canada, it won’t be a walk in the park for any one country.”
South African athletes won 33 medals at the last Commonwealth Games in India four years ago, including 12 golds, 11 silvers and 10 bronze medals, placing it fifth on the overall medals table. This year’s Commonwealth Games will be held from 23 July to 3 August, with the triathlon events being held at Strathclyde Country Park on Thursday 24 July for the individual races and Saturday 26 July for the mixed relay.
Triathlon teams have already been named by Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with England and Scotland expected to reveal their teams in the next few days. Watch this space for more as soon as we have it…
(Main image: Delly Carr)