The Huelva-born Emilio Martín and the Jiennense Yessica Pérez winners of the seventh edition of Desafío Doñana

María José Rienda attended the start and the trophy deliveries of an edition with the record of 542 participants in absolute category

The jiennense Yessica Pérez and the Huelva Emilio Martín have been proclaimed winners in absolute category of the seventh edition of the Doñana Challenge, triathlon of resistance that has been celebrated today, with exit in the Beach of Bajo Guide of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and final in the Tip of Malandar, after traveling 100 kilometers in bicycle, 1 km. of swimming at the mouth of the Guadalquivir (2,8 kilometers in the relay mode) and 30 kilometers of running on the beach along the Doñana shore and with the record number of participation of 542 athletes in absolute category.

The competition was attended by the general director of Activities and Promotion of Sports of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, María José Rienda, who witnessed the departure and arrival, the Mini Challenge competitions and made the presentation of trophies in the company of the president of the Andalusian Triathlon Federation, Pablo Castilla. The mayor of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Víctor Mora, was also present at the start.

María José Rienda stressed "the importance of this type of sporting events that make Sanlúcar and the entire region have a very high hotel occupancy during this weekend, which also benefits the hospitality sector and the tourism of the localities. Special thanks are due to the selfless work of the almost 500 volunteers who have collaborated for another year and without whom the test would not have been possible and the collaboration of a large number of traffic police and municipal police of the municipalities where Desafío ran, as well as local sports clubs, which have developed a very important support work for the celebration of the event. "

The Duathlon world champion, the man from Huelva Emilio Martín (CD The Trialetines), has achieved the victory by entering the finish line with a time of 4: 17: 36, followed by Madrid Alejandro Santamaría (Trientrenos) -for the fourth time on the podium and winner in 2010- with a time of 4:23:10, while the third classified was the Segovian Pablo Martín (Trientrenos) with a final time of 4: 23: 46.

In the feminine category the winner was the jiennense Yessica Pérez Torrente (Triatomix Mbikes) with a record of 4: 54: 15, followed by the winner from last year's malagueña María Bravo (Isbilya Sloopy Joe's) with a time of 5: 09: 30. In the third place concluded the gaditana Mari Carmen Peralta (CC Falibikes), who stopped the chronometer with 5: 17.31. It is the fourth consecutive occasion that two Andalusian athletes are the first classified in the absolute category of Doñana Challenge.

In men's relays the first classified team was Utrera Acuática Monferve (Raúl Nieto, Jesús Pulido and Juan José Alfaro), with a goal time of 4: 31: 33; in women's teams the SGTRI (Pilar Ruiz, Vanessa López and María Salazar) with a set chronometer of 5: 58: 45; and in mixed relays the winning team was Trimarko (José María Rodríguez, Ana Mancera and José Manuel Ramos), with a time of 4: 41: 11.

The seventh edition of Desafío Doñana again had a large audience following the competition, both the absolute test and the minors of the Mini Challenge, and that like the Challenge beat one more edition the athlete participation record, with young 230 triathletes of both sexes.

Among the last classified came the Malaga paratriathlete Raúl Zambrana (Club Triatlon Rincon de la Victoria), which successfully concluded the first participation of an athlete with physical disability in the Doñana Challenge, with a time 8: 25: 43, and with a warm reception in the finish line.

Desafío Doñana 2016 has been organized by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía, with the technical support of the Andalusian Triathlon Federation, and with the collaboration of the municipalities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Trebujena, Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María, Rota and Chipiona and the Doñana Natural Area.

More information, photos and all the results in www.desafiodonana.com.

Photos: Juan Jose Úbeda / Rodelas