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Barbados’ Oein Josiah (centre) took first place in his age group and was sixth overall. Here he is flanked by Jason Costelloe (left) of Trinidad and Tobago and Stevie Blankenship of Canada the second and third place finishers in the age group.

Josiah finishes in top 10 of Rainbow Triathlon Cup 2018

Local triathlete Oein Josiah keeps testing his limits and has turned in one of his best finishes to date with a sixth-place finish in the Massy Rainbow Cup held over this past weekend in Tobago.

Taking in his fourth edition of the event, the lanky 29 year-old contested his first Olympic Triathlon at the series while helping Barbados to two top-10 finishes. Joined by local Olympian Jason Wilson, who crossed the line first, the pair proudly represented the island in a sea of top-billed regional and international competitors.

Speaking to to The Barbados Advocate after his performance, Josiah said that it was a good learning experience as he learned quite a bit and was more accustomed to competing over the Sprint distance.

“It was a good experience because not only did the distance double, but the competition itself doubled as well. That is the premier race of the entire event. We had Barbadian Olympian Jason Wilson and other guys who are on the elite circuit and doing elite races like the Continental Cup or World Cup races. The race was quite interesting and an eye-opener as well. I realisedthat I definitely need to work more on my swim,” he said.

With an overall time of 2:19.07 hours that got him first place in his age-group, Josiah noted that the swim was one of the toughest parts for him as it was a very physical 1.5 km course. Going on to say that the front pack got out of the water about eight minutes earlier than he did to see him in 24th place, he added that he had his work cut out for him.

Making up some distance on the hilly 40 km bike course, Josiah pulled himself just inside the top 10 before running to sixth place. Knocking off his last opponent inside the last kilometre of the 10K run, he revealed that he was pleased with the effort.

Explaining that since taking in his first Olympic distance race in 2016, Josiah said that the training ahead of his fourth race has seen his fitness level better than before. However, he found out that the learning curve on the swim was a bit steeper and that he needed more hours there. “I have increased my training sessions as it relates to the swim, bike and run, so I went into the race feeling relatively relaxed, comfortable and confident to be in the top-five. But when the reality of the swim hit me, I had to work really hard. I guess it just caught me off guard and took me off my game plan. When I got out of the water, I was just about hunting and catching those ahead,” he stated.

Going on to mention that the hardest part of the transition from Sprint to Olympic was getting the training in, Josiah said that he would be keeping at it ahead off his next two assignments. With a Sprint race being hosted by the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes in July, his next big race was the London Triathlon on August 5th and he said that the transition for him was only natural.

“I have seen some victories in the Sprint distance but you always want to get better and push to the maximum of your potential so that is what I am aiming for,” he declared. (MP)

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