Mateusz Rak from Poland braved the scorching heat of Mombasa to win the 2013 Mombasa triathlon African challenge which involved swimming, cycling and athletics. The athletees converged at the treasury square before they plunged into the Indian ocean for a 1.5km swim and cycled for 40km before they culminated the event with a grueling 10km run. Rak who is not ranked, timed one-hour 48.37 minutes to emerge the new champion of the event. Italy’s Lucas Facchinetti who is ranked 144 globally came in second ahead of Daniel Hofer from Italy while south Africa’s Travis Johnston who is ranked 148 was fourth. Kenya’s Swaleh Balala who is based in Mombasa finished ninth overall. The event was attended by participants from Italy, Poland, South Africa, Namibia, Britain, USA, Romania, Australia and host Kenya.