Birkirkara St Joseph’s Keith Galea cut through the first finishers’ tape in the Go&Fun BSJ Triathlon Series earlier on last week, marking his eleventh Series victory.
The Go&Fun BSJ Triathlon Series, hosted by Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club, consisted of four triathlons – two Sprint Distance (750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run) and two Standard/Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km cycle, 10km run) races.
The final race took place in sweltering heat, making it an even more challenging grand finale.
The 1500m swim saw Nicholas Sammut and Keith Galea, exiting the water with a mere two seconds separating the two. Whilst Sammut was first out of the water and into transition, Galea’s years of experience saw him edge Sammut out of first transition gaining a four second advantage. Out on the bike segment, Galea took a strong lead ensuring a gap between him and Steve Ritchie who’s strength on the bike showed. Ritchie gave a strong performance throughout. Out on the 10km run, by which time temperatures where high, Galea registered the fastest run split to cut through the tape first, and securing his eleventh Series victory in the process. Ritchie, who registered the second fastest run split, kept the rhythm to place second on the podium. Third placed was Roberto Briffa. Briffa has been delivering good performances, particularly on the bike, so much so that his bike split was the fastest on the day.
In the females’ category, Maya Schembri Rodgers was the first female out of the water and kept the lead throughout the whole race to finish first, ahead of Marquita Muscat. Muscat was the third female out of the water but narrowed the gap with a strong bike leg. Denise Cortis who was second out of the water slipped to third place at the finish line to complete the podium.
Sprint Distance
Concurrently with the Standard Distance the Club hosted a Sprint Triathlon, which was out of Series competition but allowed triathletes wishing to race a shorter distance to do. Finishing the race first in their respective categories were Ryan Muscat and Elaine Fenech.
Youth Triathlon Series
The event also brought to an end the Youth Series, which saw a good attendance and some very promising performances from the young athletes whose ages averaged nine to 16.
Overall Podiums
The Series drew to a close with the presentation of trophies to the athletes who completed the four races in the series. Presenting the trophies were Davide Cachia, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation and Ray Grech, President, Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club.
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sport Club Secretary Euchar Camilleri expressed his gratitude towards the athletes and Clubs who supported the Series, which was held under the auspices of the Malta Triathlon Federation. He went on to thank Go & Fun for their long standing support as well as Naxxar Local Council, Birkirkara District Police, Transport Malta and all officials involved in the running of the event.
2023 Go&Fun BSJ Standard Distance Triathlon Results
Males | Females | |||
1st | Keith Galea (Birkirkara St. Joseph | 2:10:15 | Maya Schembri Rodgers (Agones SFC) | 2:27:17 |
2nd | Steve Ritchie (Birkirkara St Joseph) | 2:12:49 | Marquita Muscat (Birkirkara St Joseph) | 2:53:36 |
3rd | Roberto Briffa (Agones SFC) | 2:17:30 | Denise Cortis (Agones SFC) | 3:04:08 |
2023 Go&Fun BSJ Standard Distance Triathlon Series – Overall Results
Results are based on athletes completing the four races in the series.
Males | Females | |
1st | Keith Galea (Birkirkara St. Joseph) | Denise Cortis (Agones SFC) |
2nd | Josef Azzopardi (TriGozo) | |
3rd | Nicholas Sammut (Agones SFC) |