Havana, September 18 (JIT)-- Cuban Alejandro Rodriguez won the Manta 2023 Triathlon Cup of the Americas in Ecuador, where he also competed for Leslie Amat Island.
Nicknamed "the Kenyan", the Cuban climbed to the top of the podium after timing 55:43 minutes in the three disciplines that make up this sport.
It is the first title in six international bids for the bronze medalist in the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023.
"He had a great competition," Alejandro Puerto, president of the Cuban federation of this sport, told JIT.
The lanky 21 year-old young man did 9:57 minutes in the 750-meter swim; 29:39 in the 20-kilometer bike ride and 15:01 in the five-kilometer run, to which must be added the times in the two transitions: 44 seconds from the exit of the water to the bike and 24 in the change for the run.
Rodriguez Diez relegated host Gabriel Teran (55:46 minutes) to second place and Canadian Pavlos Antoniades (55:54) to third.
They led a field of 32 triathletes from a dozen nations.
LESLIE AMAT CAME IN FOURTH
Leslie Amat, also from the capital, placed fourth in a race with 14 competitors from eight countries.
With 1:04:05 hours, the tireless 31-year-old warrior could not reach the podium, which was occupied by the only ones who went under the hour with four minutes: the local Paula Vega (1:03:15), the Brazilian Giovanna Lacerda (1:03:28) and the Ecuadorian Paula Jara (1:03:44).
Amat, the most veteran of the competitors, achieved her best performance of a critical route prepared towards the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, which previously included forays in Veracruz and Santa Marta, in Mexico and Colombia, respectively.
In Veracruz, Amat did not finish the competition because she felt unwell after leaving the swimming event. In the coffee nation, she took the eleventh place with a time of 1:03:42 hours.
The Cuban is looking for the quota called new flag to the Olympic Games of Paris 2024, which is granted to the best placed in the ranking among those who do not access directly to the call.
That was elusive for Tokyo 2020 in a dispute that won the Argentine Romina Biagioli, one of the great absentees in the fair of Manta.
