Spain and Colombia rule in Havana International Triathlon

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 15 (acn) Spanish Camila Alonso and Colombian Carlos Javier Quinchara won the sprint elite event, for women and men respectively, in the farewell day of the second edition of the Havana International Triathlon.

In full reaffirmation of the power of the Iberians in this sport, Alonso took possession of the title in the women's sector with time of 1: 01.40 hours, escorted by Canadian Alexandra Coates (1: 01.42) and American Taylor Spivey ( 1: 01.49), in that order .

Prior to doping control, Camila told reporters she was very happy because everything was as planned and she had no setbacks as in the previous contest in Mexico where she suffered a flat tire resulting in a bad feeling.

About the Spanish supremacy, both by her performance and that of her compatriot Gustavo Rodriguez in the elite middle distance the previous day, she said that this "is a country with a high level of triathlon, as there are three Spaniards among the top five athletes in the world ranking ".

Meanwhile, in the men's event, Quinchara reached the finish line with time of 54.40 minutes, followed consecutively by Ecuadorian Juan José Andrade (55.09) and Venezuelan Luis Miguel Velasquez (55.44).

He added that his highlight was while running in tough fight with Andrade until in the third round he made a very strong change, which allowed him to take advantage and win the event in Havana.

Among women, the best performance by the hosts was achieved by the experienced Leidys Ana Arias, who finished ninth with time of 1: 05.21 h, seconded by Tania Rizo (10th/1: 05.42) and Leslie Amat (11th/1: 06.12).

Amat, who had real aspirations to climb the podium awards and get points for the Olympic qualification in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next August, suffered a flat tire, which relegated her to the last seats in that event.

Similarly, men neither had a happy performance since the first of them in arriving at the finish line was Yolexis Rodriguez in 13th spot ( 57.16), followed by the local ace Michel Gonzalez (14th / 57.18) and Felix Dariel Felix (15th / 57.22).