Tri-athlete wins championship

Amarosa resident Jodie Berry came back from the African Triathlon Championships thrilled.

Berry (18) returned with a gold medal from the championships that were held in Zimbabwe last month, where she competed in the junior women’s category.

This triathlete who turned professional fours ago, said determination and hard work made it possible for her to reach her goal. “I trained three times a day and spent two and half hours on each training session.” She added that support from her peers kept her going during the competition. “It was a very technical course and very different.” She mentioned that the cold and rainy weather was not favourable but she managed to be victorious because she was mentally prepared for any challenge.

Berry has previously represented South Africa at the World Triathlon Championships in New Zealand and England where she was placed in number 34 and 32 respectively.

Her outstanding performances in the international championships, led her to be honoured with Protea colours in 2012, 2013 and this year before she competed in Zimbabwe.

She has also been selected to represent the country at the International Triathlon Union World Duathlon Championships in Spain on 30 May and between June and July she will be in Europe, to compete at the junior’s tour. In August she will compete at the World Triathlon Championships which will take place in Canada.

“What I’m working on at the moment is to make sure that I excel in every discipline that I’ll be competing in.”

Though she enjoys qualifying and winning competitions, Berry admits that she battles to find sponsorships. “Taking part in championships is very costly and without a sponsor, it’s quite difficult to attend all of them by depending on my parents to finance all the trips.”

Details: Desire Berry 082 567 2358.