TRIATHLON Zimbabwe haven’t gone to sleep in as far as finding and nurturing elite level athletes in the country is concerned, president Rick Fulton said.

Zimbabwe have hosted the Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup for the past decade but there hasn’t been local representation in the male category since the 2012 when Chris Felgate last participated.

For the women, Zimbabwe last had representation in 2015 through Sarah Wild and Linda Rousseau.

“As you have seen it’s a demanding sport,” Fulton told H-Metro.

“At elite level particularly you have to be very committed to training for three disciplines at a very high level.

“These guys were racing 1500 meters, 40km bike and 10km run on a course like this at nearly 2000 meters, it’s very hilly and doing in just over two hours. That in its own right is a level you have to get to.”

But the lack of Zimbabwean elite triathletes at the Troutbeck ATU Triathlon African Cup has been noticeable with questions being raised if the country will ever have elite athletes in the future.

It has literally become an international event hosted in and by Zimbabwe but largely benefitting triathletes from other countries as they get to earn points at the International Triathlon Union.

“And our athlete pool, I don’t believe is big enough to be able to reach that. We have been lucky that we have had good athletes in the past.

“The likes of Chris Felgate who were extremely committed to what they were doing on a daily basis. That’s what it is, it’s a full time job and you got have resources to be able to do that.”

However, all hope is not yet lost for Zimbabwe. Fulton added that his organisation is not and will not rest until they have unearthed elite athletes for Zimbabwe in the near future.

“We as Triathlon Zimbabwe, firstly, you go to find talent that is committed enough to go forward and then we have to resource it which isn’t easy in its own right.

“We are still looking and we need to fill the shoes of Chris Felgate. It’s not that we have ignored it we are hoping that some youngsters you have seen will be committed enough to say ‘yah I won’t to go and do that for a couple of years’.

“We have to find that replacement and we will keep looking under the stones and try to find them,” he said.