Eastern Province biathletes are raring to go ahead of the EP interprovincial biathlon meeting set to take place in the city this Saturday.
About 150 athletes from across the region have been selected to A, B and development teams to compete in the competition which guarantees to set Nelson Mandela Bay alight as the provinces bring their best athletes to compete in the weekend’s event.
EP Biathlon chair Pierre Jacobs said there would be the inclusion of a schools league, where athletes who are not selected into one of the three teams could still compete under their school colours.
Jacobs said teams from across the country would be descending on the Bay with athletes from Border, Eden, Free State and Griquas set to participate.
“The field will not be as big as we expected with a few other sporting events taking place at the same time, so despite our neighbours from Eden being the defending champions, I think we [as EP] stand a good chance of doing well,” he said.
The sport has shown considerable growth in recent years.
The introduction of a special needs race in the last two events, the inclusion of a group of development athletes, and the increased participation of adults have placed the region in a prime position to challenge bigger provinces when the national championships roll around next year.
Last week, the third round of the EP Biathlon league took place at the Westbourne Oval and Newton Park swimming pool. More than 150 entrants participated in age groups from U8 to seniors.
Jacobs said the league events, which got under way last month, were a qualification mechanism for athletes, as they had to compete at both league and interprovincial events to be considered for selection for the nationals.
For full results listings on the previous three league events, visit: http://www.epbiathlon.co.za/en/results.