National triumphs for Petrus Human, Anri Greeff
Duathlon
Former rugby player Petrus Human completed a successful transition to multi-sport as he claimed victory in the Namibia Triathlon Federation's 2024 national duathlon championship on Sunday morning.Human dominated at the front of the standard distance race (10 km run, 40 km road cycling, 5 km run) held on the southern outskirts of Windhoek.
Human, along with women’s champion Anri Greeff, showcased exceptional endurance and skill in the run-bike-run format.
The championships featured three distance categories (Standard, Sprint and Super Sprint) which drew both seasoned competitors and newcomers alike.
The race ended prematurely for defending champion Konrad Marais, who suffered a puncture in his rear tyre.
Reflecting on the incident, Marais said: “I have a tubeless tyre on my rear back wheel, which is hard to fix in case of a flat. I tried to put air in it, but that didn't work. That's when I realised the race was over.”
Despite Marais’ misfortune, the competition remained fierce. Human crossed the finish line in first place after 2 hours 13 minutes 14 seconds, followed by John Valentine (second in 2:13:14) and Jan Louis Mostert (third in 2:13:14).
Human, who has dedicated himself to multi-sport since the end of his rugby career which saw him earn Namibian colours as well, expressed his satisfaction with the victory.
“It was really fun, especially competing against Konrad; we have some healthy competition. It's my third year doing multi-sports, and I'm still getting the hang of things, but I'm really happy with the win.”
Human, who specialises in off-road triathlons, is now looking forward to participating in the XTerra Triathlon in Johannesburg, South Africa, set for October.
In the women's standard race, former Commonwealth Games competitor Anri Greeff dominated with a time of 2:15:00, finishing well ahead of her competitors. Adelé de la Rey completed the race in 2:34:20, while Marion Schonecke finished third (2:44:13).
The Sprint race also saw intense competition before teenager Nathan Chase took first place in 1:02:22. Ethan Brinkmann (second, 1:03:42) produced a stern challenge, while Steyn Fourie rounded out the top three (1:07:31).
This year's duathlon championships once again highlighted the growing popularity of multi-sport events in Namibia, with champions Petrus Human and Anri Greeff leading the charge.