Great honour for Outeniqua pupil

GEORGE NEWS - Christian Hattingh (17), a Grade 12 pupil at Outeniqua High, is part of a multitude of triathletes from all over the planet who will flock to Montreal, Canada, to compete in the 2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships.

Christian will compete in Protea colours in the Junior Elite race on 24 June, over the sprint distance. He will swim 750m, bike 20km and run 5km against the best 18- to 19-year-old juniors in the world.

According to the young triathlete, he has always been active and "could cycle before I could walk".

He did his first triathlon at the age of nine and started competing seriously in 2018. Although he has represented South Africa in Egypt at the African Triathlon Championships before, this will be the highlight of his triathlon career.

Christian Hattingh is making great strides in triathlon. Photo: Deidré Cloete

Training for three disciplines makes triathlon training hard and time-consuming. "As an amateur junior athlete, I train twice a day, six days a week, adding to about 14 hours of training a week," he says.

"I will be competing against older athletes, but I am fitter and stronger than I've ever been."

Eden Triathlon saw Christian moving up from the development league to the Junior Elite world stage and is very excited to see the youngsters embracing the fastest growing Olympic sport.

Christian Hattingh