Swiss husband-wife duo win individual titles, Indian Army team grabs maximum podium finishes
Photo Credits: 4th Goa Triathlon
THE GOAN NETWORK
Panaji
Swiss husband-wife duo of Pablo and Lucia Erat claimed titles in Olympic men's and women's distance categories at the 4th edition of the Goa Triathlon.
Pablo Erat, 47, made it four titles in a row as he finished with a very quick time of 2 hours 7 minutes 26 seconds. Erat was closely followed by Indian Army duo of Saikhom Bishworjit (2:09:52) and Vishwanath Yadav (2:11:00).
The event -- organized by Enduro Sports Goa in association with COOJ mental health foundation at Bambolim on Sunday, February 12 -- is gaining in popularity, attracting close to 500 triathletes from India and abroad. Mumbai led the pecking order with participation of 145 triathletes, followed by Bengaluru (92) and Pune (90). There were 47 foreign triathletes in the event.
The 20-man Indian Army team from the Army’s Triathlon Centre for Excellence in Pune caught everyone’s eye as they featured in most podium finishes. While two army triathletes came second and third in the Olympic distance men’s category, they swept all the three top positions in the super sprint category and won the Olympic distance team event.
In the Olympic distance women’s category, Pablo’s wife Lucia Erat won the first position, while Pranav Kumar of the Indian Army and Pritha Thadani finished first in the Super Sprint Men’s and Women’s categories respectively, while the Indian Army trio of Sanu Saju, Dadasuo Vaybhat and Saikhom Singh finished first in the Olympic Team category.
Addressing the participants post the event, Erat said: “A big thank you goes to team Enduro Sports for setting up yet another world class event. I would also like to thank all the supporters and athletes who were out there on the race course for all the smiles and cheers.”
The Goan flag was kept flying by the trio of Joao Estrocio, Serry D’Souza and Fredsan Marshall who came third in the Olympic distance team event. The event was supported by volunteers from the Indian Army, Goa Police, Goa College of Architecture and Dempo College.
Olympic Solo Men - 1. PABLO ERAT (Switzerland): 2:07:26; 2. SAIKHOM BISHWORJIT (Indian Army): 2:09:52; 3. VISHWANATH YADAV (Indian Army): 2:11:00;
Olympic Solo Women - 1. LUCIA ERAT (Switzerland): 2:23:21; 2. SAMIRA ABRAHAM (India) 2:47:41; 3. SUMIE FUJIMURA (Japan): 3:04:47; Super Sprint Male - 1. Pranav Kumar (Indian Army): 0:40:04; 2. Ramjith RC (Indian Army): 0:40:25; 3. RAGUNATH MALI (Indian Army): 0:41:04; Super Sprint Female - 1. PRITHA THADANI (India): 1:09:58; 2. MELISSA PAIN (Canada): 1:14:07; 3. PAOLA MANZO (Italian): 1:14:52; Olympic Team - 1. SANU SAJU / DADASUO MITHU VAYBHAT / SAIKHOM MANI SINGH (Indian Army): 2:06:08; 2. AARON DSOUZA / VIJAYARAGHAVAN VENUGOPAL / NAGARAJ MR (India): 2:10:16; 3. JOAO CARLOS ELTON ESTROCIO / SERRY D'SOUZA / FREDSAN MARSHALL (Goa): 2:12:37.
