Kai Azzopardi and Danica Bonello Spiteri both retained their National Sprint Triathlon Champion titles when Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club hosted the Championships in Salina on Sunday.
Hosted under the auspices of the Malta Triathlon Federation and Corsa, the National Sprint Triathlon Championships attracted a mix of experienced, upcoming and new triathletes to the local scene.
Keen to keep his name etched on the winner’s trophy Kai Azzopardi was the first triathlete to exit from the 750m swim, leading the rest with a comfortable gap. The next swimmers to head to the first transition were Nicholas Sammut, Ryan Muscat and Keith Galea, the latter two with just a second gap between them. Exiting out of transition first Azzopardi maintained a good lead. Resolute to give a good fight Galea forged ahead chasing Azzopardi, whilst Muscat and Josef Azzopardi were determined to claim a place on the podium. Azzopardi maintained his lead until the very end, claiming the title in a time of 59:18, a major improvement on last year’s time of 1:02:04. Galea clocked in second place with Muscat taking third place.
Maya Schembri Rogers was the first female to exit the swim, which enabled her to take the lead ahead of Danica Bonello Spiteri and Keira Attard. An unfortunate mishap on the bike saw Schembri Rogers forego the lead resulting in Bonello Spiteri narrowing the gap, though not before the latter stopped to assist Schembri Rogers and ensure she could continue to race. Bonello Spiteri emerged victorious having taken the lead in the bike and maintaining it until the end. Finishing in third place was Keira Attard, who maintained this placing from the very start of the race.
Medals to the podium winners of the National Championships were presented by Birkirkara St Joseph Board Member Joseph Farrugia and Malta Triathlon Federation Secretary General Warren Muscat.
The Club also hosted well-attended youth races. The top three finishers for the three Categories were Kruiven Farrugia, Oliver Buccheri and Mickaya Fava (Category 1), Neil Cassar, Leo Buccheri and Jake Refalo (Category 2) and Aiden Muscat, Zija Fujii and Nathan Pace (Category 3).
The final race of the BSJ Go&Fun Triathlon Series will take place on Sunday 16th July in Salina. Athletes can choose between a Sprint or Olympic Distance Triathlon.
The Go&Fun Sprint Triathlon National Championships were supported by Go&Fun Green Energy Drink. The Club would like to thank Naxxar Local Council, Naxxar District Police, and Transport Malta for their assistance.
