Zimbabwes eight-member triathlon team leaves the country tomorrow for the African Triathlon Union African Triathlon Championships in La Morne, Mauritius, on Saturday.
Olympic hopeful Christopher Felgate will be using the championships as an opportunity to meet the qualifying criteria for the London Olympic Games in July.
As the designated Olympic qualifying continental championships, the winners of the event in both the men and womens categories will claim two spots on the starting line in London.
However, should Felgate fail to secure an outright win he also has a chance of securing a ticket to London by coming ahead of all the other non-South African participants who dominate the entry list.
South Africa provide six triathletes while Zimbabwe, Morocco, Egypt, Mauritius and Czech Republic each have one triathlete among the 12 participants who will line up in the mens elite race.
Zimbabwe coach, Wayne Davidson told NewsDay Sport yesterday that he was confident Felgate would manage to seal his Olympic qualification in this race.
Felgate is eyeing a second consecutive appearance at the Olympics after he qualified and competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics courtesy of IOC Solidarity Funding and a scholarship supplied by the International Triathlon Union.
Obviously our main priority at the African Championships in Mauritius is for Felgate to book his place at the Olympics. He is undoubtedly an exceptional athlete who on any given day can win this race and Im confident he will achieve that as the terrain in Mauritius suits him well.
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He will either have to win the race outright or at least come ahead of all the other non-South African competitors from Morocco, Egypt, Mauritius and Czech Republic who are taking part in the race, said Davidson.
Le Morne is the location for this years African Continental Championship on the beautiful island of Mauritius.
Athletes begin with a mass beach start for a 1,5km swim made up of two laps in the warm waters of the sea lagoon.
The 40km bike course consists of three laps of a mostly flat course with some hills and corners. The four laps of the 10km run will be contested on a flat tar road.
Besides Felgate, Zimbabwe will also field triathletes in the junior categories after they impressed at the South African Triathlon Championships in Port Elizabeth a fortnight ago.
Skye Davidson, the 2011 African Continental Champion, Helen Mitchell and Serena Rendell, who dominated the category in South Africa, will lift the countrys flag in the girls Under-15 while Laurelle Brown is the countrys sole representative in the girls Under-19. In the Under-15 boys category, Marcus Philip, Drew Williams and Mitchel Kaye will represent the country.
Team Elite Men: Christopher Felgate Under-19 girls: Laurelle Brown Under-15 Boys: Marcus Philip, Drew Williams, Mitchel Kaye Under -15 Girls: Skye Davidson, Helen Mitchel, Serena Rendell Team manager: Amanda Michell Coach: Wayne Davidson
