It was a foreign affair at the second edition of the Escape Triathlon, as Jamaica’s French-born veteran campaigner Elisabeth Mondon and Russia’s Alexey Zaytsev finished tops in the main event at Couples San Souci in St Mary on Sunday.

Mondon, who won the women’s section at the inaugural staging in 2019, completed a successful title defence, while Zaytsev, who often strutted his stuff in Jakes Triathlon, outlasted his counterparts on the course.

Over 32 individuals took part across both the triathlon and aquathlon.

The triathlon comprised a 600-metre swim at Sunset Beach, a 20k ride from the hotel to Ian Fleming Airport and back, followed by a 2.5k run towards Tower Isle and back to complete the 5K run to finish. Aquathlon participants contested only the swim and run.

Mondon, who hails from the tiny French island off the coast of Madagascar called Réunion, boasts over 10 years’ experience as a triathlete and her class was evident in Sunday’s win.

The 42-year-old, who arrived in Kingston back in 2007, completed the journey in one hour and 27 minutes, ahead of El Salvador’s Maria Serrano (1:44:58 hours) and another Jamaican, Lesli Prendergast (2:01.04 hours).

For the soft-spoken Mondon, the event provided a nice tune-up for the Jamaica Triathlon Association’s (JTA) National Championship next Saturday, as she seeks to secure a spot on Jamaica’s team for next year’s Commonwealth Games.

“It was a very challenging course with a lot of hills, but overall the event was fantastic; it was a good training session for the National Championships and I think we should make it an international event,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air to be back in competition. I am hoping to get a chance to represent the country in the Commonwealth Games next year, but it’s a long way away and a lot of training, so I used this event to see where I am and if it is feasible,” Mondon, who represented Jamaica in the triathlon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, added.

Zaytsev, for his part, clocked one hour and 25 minutes in victory, beating Jamaicans Dayne Wright (1:27.08 hours) and Lance Rochester (1:30.24 hours).

The 50-year-old, who arrived in Jamaica six years ago for work at Windalco Alumina Company, had his first taste of local triathlon competition at Jakes and has been hooked since then.

“The performance was great, I quite appreciate the course and everything went well. The swimming was slow, I was behind the major players, but then I picked it up on the cycling and running. So overall it was great, everyone has been waiting for a long time to be back in competition and so I am also looking forward to the National Championships to just stay active,” Zaytsev said.

Jamaica’s Califfe Singh Li topped the male section of the aquathlon in 18 minutes and 31 seconds, followed by compatriot Sheldon Scotchman (21.46 minutes) and Billy Salus (25.44 minutes) of United States.

Veronica Royal, the lone female to contest the event, stopped the clock in 41 minutes and 22 seconds.

Meanwhile, organiser Franz McKnight, a director of the JTA, was pleased with the overall outcome.

“It was very successful as you know we are operating in a pandemic so there were a lot of uncertainties and because of that we had a year off, but this one got more support than we did the last one, even from overseas courtesy of Couples Resort. So we are happy everyone had fun and finished the race safe,” McKnight said.

“We have seen where we can go better with more sponsorship to make it a real international event because I think sports in Jamaica has a lot of potential, not just triathlon, but we just need some help from corporate Jamaica to make it possible,” he added.