New men's and women's Olympic triathlon champions will be crowned at the tenth annual Neal and Massy Rainbow Cup at Turtle Beach, Tobago, on June 28, as Barbadian Matthew Wright and American Kelsey Withrow are unavailable.
Wright has qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 � August 3 and has decided to concentrate on the Games. Last year, Wright won the Olympic men's category in two hours, three minutes and eight seconds.
Withrow, who won the women's title in 2:15.52, picked up an injury while cycling recently and will not be ready in time. Wright also grabbed the 5k title last year.
In the Olympic category, participants are required to swim 1.5km, ride for 40km and run for 10km. Some of the other categories include the sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20k ride, 5k run), 3000m open water swim, 5km fun walk/run and a try-a-tri category. The try-a-tri (375m swim, 10k ride, 2.5k run) was created for all triathlon enthusiasts eager to compete.
The youngsters will also be involved as there is a kids 7-9 (100m swim, 1k ride, 500m run) and kids 10-15 (375m swim, 10k ride, 2.5 k run) category.
Yesterday at the event's media launch at Neal and Massy Automotive Limited, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, race director Jason Gooding was looking forward to the event.
Gooding said: "We have an exciting event this year, a lot of people are ready, a lot of people are getting ready."
Some 600 athletes are expected this year including top athletes Gaetan Feteau (France), Phillip McCatty (Jamaica), Elinor Thorogood (Great Britain) and T&T's Nicholas Mitchell, who won the sprint male triathlon last year.
The first event will start at 8 am on June 28, and the weekend's activities conclude with a beach lime on Grafton Beach on June 29.
For further information participants can visit www.rainbowcuptobago.com or call 632-9004.
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