Europe Triathlon

The ETU Junior European Cup returns to Tiszaujvaros this weekend for one of the most popular events on the International Triathlon calendar.

Last year, the Junior Cup experimented with a split semi final and final structure and following its success and positive feedback from athletes and coaches alike, this year’s race will continue with the split format.

This format will also be used for the first time in ITU competition at the ITU World Cup, also being held this weekend.

Tiszaujvaros has hosted an ETU Junior Cup every year since 2006 and has often been used to trial different formats of the sport. In 2010, the Junior athletes completed the sprint distance across five segments and four transitions.

In total, 99 junior athletes will compete. On Saturday, the Junior men have been split into three semi-finals of 20 athletes, and the women have been split into two semi-final heats, one of 20 and the other with 19.

For the Junior men, the top 9 in each semi final will qualify for the final along with the three best times. For the Junior women, the top 14 from each semi will qualify along with the best two times. There will be 30 athletes in each final.

Each semi-final race is a 500m swim /12km bike/ 3.2km run. The final is 500m swim/ 13.2km bike/ 3.2km run.

Hungarian athletes have traditionally done very well here in ‘Tiszi’, with at least one athlete making the podium every year since 2006.

This will no doubt boost the confidence of the likes of Gàbor Hanko, David & Eszter Pap and Renata Fuchs, who have all performed consistently well in 2012 and will be contenders here.

Aside from the home athletes, in the Junior Men’s race, Amita Yonah (ISR) finished 7th in the European Championships in Eilat and will test himself away from Israeli home turf.

Ilya Prasolov (RUS) and Ivan Menshykov (UKR) impressed in Kupiskis – Menshykov won and Prasolov was third – but only Menshykov has raced in this type of format before, failing to progress from his semi-final in Tiszaujvaros last year.

In the Junior Women’s race, Kaidi Kivioja has burst onto the scene in 2012 with a win in Kupiskis and 5th place finish in Holten last weekend and she will be one to watch.