Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 59

MULTISPORT
5150 Nelson Mandela Bay, which takes
place at Kings Beach. On 24 November
she will be gunning to be the first woman
to cross the finish line in her age group,
but she knows this won’t be easy. Just like
South African professional triathlete, Annah
Watkinson, Amanda also has the struggle of
fitting in her training schedule in between her
responsibilities of a full-time job. “If I had more
time, if I did not have a business, I would most
definitely do better by being on the podium
regularly, but it’s hard to juggle everything. I am
in the surgical and medical industry, so I travel
a lot, and on top of that I have two kids to look
after. It’s tough, but I am just so passionate
about the sport. I absolutely love it, and the
triathlon culture.”
Amanda was also lucky enough to participate in
the prestigious 2018 Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3 World
Championship, which took place on African soil
for the very first time. She won an IRONMAN
4 the Kidz charity slot for this pinnacle event.
“It was an amazing experience to participate in
an IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event
in front of my home crowd. That made it absolutely
incredible. To be part of something this massive in
your own backyard was a dream come true. It was
a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I will be forever
grateful for the opportunity to take part.”
Another World Champs?
Given how much she enjoyed her World Champs
outing, Amanda is thrilled about the news that
Women For Tri, a programme launched in 2015 by
the IRONMAN Foundation, recently announced
that a total of 500 additional women will earn an
invitation to race in the next IRONMAN 70.3 World
Championship taking place in Taupо̄, New Zealand
in November 2020. These slots will be awarded
to top finishing female athletes at 20 select races
worldwide, including the Standard Bank IRONMAN
70.3 South Africa.
The additional slots will be utilised by Women For Tri
to welcome and empower new female triathletes to
be part of the sport’s continued growth in high-level
competition. Thus, following the standard IRONMAN
70.3 World Championship roll-down ceremony at the
20 select races, 25 additional slots will be awarded to
the next most qualified women, divided proportionally
by age group, creating a deeper field of female athletes
while maintaining the integrity and prestige of an
IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. Naturally,
Amanda will be hoping to grab one of these slots on 26
January 2020, when she takes on the Standard Bank
IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa in Buffalo City.
So, what keeps Amanda coming back to these
IRONMAN-branded events? She explains, “It’s the
whole vibe. The atmosphere is electric, and the
crowds that come out to support are something to
behold when they are chanting your name on the side
of the road. You earn respect when people see you
wearing an IRONMAN bag or wearing an IRONMAN
finisher’s T-shirt! Also, the events are well run from
the start to finish, and I am over the moon that the
city has kept the Standard Bank IRONMAN African
Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay.”
“I just love being part of the culture, the people and
the discipline that triathlon teaches you. Not a lot of
people will ask you what your finishing time was, most
people are just impressed and inspired by the fact that
you entered and finished. Often, I tell people I have
done IRONMAN and they ask if I mean IRONWOMAN,
and I say no, I have done IRONMAN! They look at me
and say really? And I say yes.”
This article was supplied courtesy of IRONMAN
South Africa.
More About
Women For Tri
Women For Tri®, a programme of The IRONMAN
Foundation launched in 2015, works to increase
female participation at all levels of triathlon. The
program seeks to identify and diminish primary
barriers to entry and mobilise triathlon advocates
to encourage and engage female athletes across
all race distances and representing all athletic
abilities. Since inception, over US $300,000 in
grants have been awarded to triathlon clubs
supporting female participation initiatives.
Women For Tri embodies the heart and soul of
what makes the sport so rewarding: Testing your
ability, overcoming challenges, and realising the
full depth of your potential in the most widely
recognised test of endurance, triathlon. Learn
more at www.womenfortri.com and join the
Women For Tri online community of over 55,000
female triathletes at www.facebook.com/groups/
WomenForTri.
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