Malta once again claimed a place on the podium when National Triathlon Champion Hannah Pace took Silver in the Standard Distance Triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run). Pace who competed in the 25-29 Age Group had to contend with very stiff competition due to this Age Group being one of the most hotly contested one.
Held in Tartu Estonia, the Championships are a very hotly contested event which sees the participation of over a thousand athletes.
Despite the fresh temperatures, race officials declared the swim to be a non-wetsuit swim, due to the water temperature being 22.6 degrees and therefore considered to be warm enough. The water was warm enough to be a non-wetsuit swim – considered by some to be a disadvantage mainly. Pace’s ability to perform in various conditions coupled with a strong consistent performance saw her exit the water in second position. On to the 40km run, although route was considered to be pancake flat, the course was dotted with strong pockets of winds. The 10 kilometre run took athletes along the river and finished in the city centre.
Pace crossed the finish line in a time of 2 hours 7 minutes 53 seconds. Pace’s performance saw her finish fourth overall female.
Pace is no stranger to podiums in these championships, in addition to the silver medal won today in Tartu, Pace has ammassed a collection of medals ever since her first participation in 2013. Since then, Pace has won three bronze medals (Geneva (Sprint), Dusseldorf (Sprint), Kitzbuhel (Standard), two Silver (Lisbon – Sprint and Standard) and Gold in Turkey (Standard).
“Although I would have preferred a wetsuit swim, I just put that behind me and kept the focus throughout, pushing the boundaries to bring a good result for Malta. This year my attention and concentration mainly turned to long distance racing, due to the forthcoming Ironman Race in the coming weeks. Despite the fact that training for Standard and Ironman Distance varies substantially, I am very satisfied with today’s performance as the combination of long and shorter distance training worked well” – Hannah Pace.
Pace is supported by Garmin Malta, Eurosport, Starbene, Team Barry and is grateful for the assistance provided by the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Malta Triathlon Federation.
Malta’s contingent at the European Championships in Tartu consisted of Graham Borg, Stefan Borg, Josef Bonavia, Isabelle Caruana, Joseph Cremona, Matthew Dalli, Suzanne Farrugia, Warren Muscat, Anjelika Ruggier, Margaret Seguna, Kersten Theuma, Maria Vella-Galea and Lindsey Zammit.
Source: https://www.emvigee.com Maria Vella Galea
