Local athletes take on the world in the USA

Talented local junior athletes, Joshua Eccles of St Stithians College, Marco Prins of Hoërskool Randburg and Matthew Hunt of Bryanston Primary School recently competed in the UIPM 2019 biathle/triathle World Championships on the sunshine coast of Florida in the USA.

The young men competed at the St Petersburg marina with 420 other athletes from 33 countries in the biathle (run-swim-run) and triathle (shoot-swim-run) world championship events.

All three athletes won a number of medals in the team events – Joshua won gold in the triathle mixed relay, silver in the biathle mixed relay, silver in triathle boys and bronze in biathle boys’ teams. Matt earned a silver in the triathle boys and bronze in the biathle boys’ team, while Marco bagged bronze in the triathle mixed team relay.

Joshua loved the world championships this year especially because he got to make new friends and meeting up with old ones which he had made over the years of competing at the highest level around the world including Spain, Hungary and the USA.

“My best thing ever is to race. I don’t like the nerves that come with it, but I have learnt to control them,” Joshua said.

Marco enjoyed his experience at the world championships this year but had a very intense triathle race as his laser-pistol was misplaced by the airline and he had to borrow one from another South Africa athlete. Marco and his partner still managed to win a bronze medal in the triathle mixed relay event, which he credits to his partner.

“I love biathle, triathle and laser-run because of the variety and adrenaline of the transitions in the races,” said Marco. “World champs is always a highlight on my calendar as I get to make new friends. On the last night at the closing ceremony, we played snooker with fellow Japanese athletes. Nobody could understand each other but we laughed a lot and had great fun together.”

Matthew has also achieved success at the national and provincial level in several sports. He is an avid sportsman and participates actively in judo, biathlon, rugby, swimming, soccer, cricket, athletics, cross-country, biathle, triathle, laser run and hockey.

“Firstly I need to thank all the generous people that contributed financially through the Back-a-Buddy funding campaign and privately that made it possible for me to be in the wonderful city of St Petersburg for the awesome event. I am happy that I did my best and I’m very proud of my first world championship medals and to have come in the top-10 world ranking for biathle,” Matthew said reflecting on his World Championships experience.

Chairman of the Gauteng Modern Pentathlon Committee, Graham Burnett, is extremely proud of all the Gauteng athletes who participated in the championship this year.

“The sport is booming and already we have seen huge growth in participation from the new season which started in October. Having these great athletes as ambassadors for biathle and triathle will no doubt encourage more participation and enable us to fly our national flag around the world,” Burnett concluded.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/159725/young-sandton-athletes-excel-at-championships/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/210092/bryanston-primary-learners-excel-at-cross-country/