Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Stanley Magut
18 July 2011
Africa triathlon bronze medallist Swaleh Balala showed little respect for the 2006 Dawerthon world champion Chrispin Omondi to win the All Africa Games trials held in Eldoret yesterday.
Balala of Mombasa posted 58:40 minutes with Omondi of Eldoret finishing second in 1:44.
Reginald Lusala of Kericho, fresh from competing in Mozambique two weeks ago, settled for third place in 1: 12:33 followed by Vincent Ochieng in 1:03:22.
Bernard Cheruiyot (1:04:09), Julius Tirop (1:05:23) of Eldoret and Gedion Ruto (1:08:28) followed in that order. Omondi who was ranked third fastest in the world in 2006 finished first but the total time performance computation in swimming, cycling and running handed Balala overall victory. Balala swam 750m in 4:50 minutes while Omondi used 11.20 minutes and by the time he started cycling, Balala had gone too far finishing cycling in 38.06 minutes with Omondi finishing in 43:02 minutes.
Omondi proved his supremacy in running the 5km distance after overtaking Balala and opening a gap of 10m to the tape to finish in 17.42 minutes while Balala followed in 20:34 minutes. “My performance was good but I was overwhelmed by the altitude. The winds here are very heavy and that slowed down my time in running,” Balala said adding that he eyes the top podium spot at the All Africa Games in
Maputo. Omondi who has been competing in the European circuit said: “Swimming is a great challenge to me but I am going to train more on that to enable me win a gold medal in Mozambique.”
In the women’s category, Magdalene Misoi obliterated her contenders to win in 1:37 minutes 52 seconds. She outclassed Ahliya Mussa from Mombasa who was second in 1:44:24 seconds. The final leg of the All Africa Games triathlon trials will be in Mombasa on August 10. The event included 5km swimming, 20km cycling and 5km running.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Continued here:
Kenya: Swaleh Balala Tops Eldoret Africa Games Triathlon