On August 10th, over fifty athletes from various corners of the country lined up for the start of the cross-country triathlon. The relay race featured 14 teams, with Team Dogers from Netishyn and Team Atomic Mustangs from Kovel battling it out for the top spot, with a mere seven seconds separating them. Team SanTrope from Varash took third place. The competition was organized by the Youth Organization of Rivne NPP, which held a separate awards ceremony for NPP employees. The enthusiasm within this community continues to shine!

In the men’s race, Anton Hutsalo from Varash dominated the swim, finishing over a minute and a half ahead of a chasing group that included Denys Gordeev, Anton Maievskyi, Rostyslav Mishchenko, Valentyn Cherniak, Nazar Usachenko, Leonid Dzhulinsky, Ruslan Zhuk, and Nazar Patiychuk. Anton extended his lead, arriving at the transition zone with a three-minute advantage before heading into the cross-country run to secure his victory. Last year, Anton placed sixth and improved his time by 1 minute and 29 seconds.

Among the chasers, Rostyslav Mishchenko from Zhovti Vody broke away, holding a 41-second lead over Valentyn Cherniak from Lutsk. Twenty seconds later, a group including Petro Kyslianka, Denys Gordeev, and Anatolii Yaruta arrived. However, the race was far from over as the contenders faced the cross-country run, where Nazar Patiychuk was unmatched.

The representative from Varash posted the best run time and, despite being 2 minutes and 51 seconds behind second place, caught up with his rivals to finish second. Rostyslav Mishchenko crossed the finish line 12 seconds later, securing the bronze in the overall standings. Petro Kyslianka missed the podium by just 10 seconds, finishing in an honorable fourth place, with Valentyn Cherniak taking fifth. The top ten in the overall standings were rounded out by Denys Gordeev, Anatolii Yaruta, Vadym Misko, Leonid Dzhulinsky, and Oleksandr Ostapiv.

Eleven women began the swim, with Zhanna Badalis once again leading the way in the water. The 50+ age group representative from Dubno held a 45-second lead over Olena Hutsalo and a 1 minute and 26-second advantage over a group that included Maiya Abramovych and Halyna Kyryk. The bike segment played out as expected, with Maiya Abramovych taking the lead. The Netishyn athlete held on to her lead through the finish line to claim a decisive victory.

Maria Kharytonenko from Netishyn trailed the leader by 50 seconds, with Zimko Balanyuk from Yuzhnoukrainsk and Zhanna Badalis completing the bike segment 1 minute and 20 seconds later. Maria held onto second place, crossing the finish line as the runner-up, while Zhanna secured third place once again.

In the age group categories, the oldest participant was Brent Reynolds, who represented Ukraine at the World Triathlon Championships in both sprint and standard distances.

Complete race results are available via the provide