Bortoli finishes 22nd in triathlon as Maranzana takes second in pool heat
Bermudian athletes were in the thick of the action across multiple venues as the 2026 Youth Olympic Games continued in Senegal, with Gianluca Bortoli taking to the coast in Saly and Noah Maranzana back on the starting blocks in the capital.
In the men’s individual triathlon at Saly Beach, Bortoli produced a determined performance across the testing multi-discipline course to cross the line 22nd overall in 57 minutes 55 seconds.
The young Bermudian emerged from the choppy waters in 17th position after completing the 750m swim in 8:50. Transitioning smoothly onto the technical 20km bike leg, Bortoli clocked the 23rd fastest split at 30:18 before delivering a sharp 17:57 effort over the closing 5km run—the joint 17th-fastest split of the day.
Portugal’s newly crowned European youth champion Artur Gaspar claimed gold in 53:13, finishing four minutes and 42 seconds clear of Bortoli. Luxembourg’s Emile Vanolst secured silver in 53:23, while Japan’s Daiki Nishizaki and Kazakhstan’s Ramazan Ainegov shared bronze in 53:27 after a photo finish could not separate them.
Meanwhile, in the swimming arena, Maranzana returned to competitive action following his earlier sprint freestyle heats.
Contesting heat two of the men’s 50m breaststroke, Maranzana touched the wall in 33.89 seconds to take second place in his heat, ranking 26th overall in the preliminary round to cap another encouraging outing on the world stage.
