It’s been an incredible weekend for the Australian women’s triathlon team, winning ITU World Championships in the Elite, Under 23 and Junior (16-19) categories. Only two hours after Emma Moffatt earned her second consecutive Elite world title, 19-year-old Ashleigh Gentle took top honors in the Junior World Championship race, sprinting away from the rest of the field on the 5K run.
“I didn’t know that Emma won the world championships,” Gentle said at the finish. “I was in the water swimming when her race was finishing so this is great to hear that we swept all three categories!”
The win didn’t come easy for Gentle, who started the race in 33rd place after the 750-meter swim in Lágymányosi Bay along the banks of the River Danube. The Aussie found herself with a solid pack of cyclists, however, and was able to ride up to the front group on the 20K bike leg.
Just as teammate Emma Jackson had done in the U23 race a day before, Gentle flew out of the second transition to take the early lead on the run. She never looked back, clocking an amazing 16:42 run split to win in 57:48. Next to cross the line was Germany’s Charlotte Bauer, who finished just over one minute back of Gentle. Bauer held off a hard-charging Joanna Brown of Canada, who came from 41st place at T2 to finish third overall.
The men’s race was a much tighter contest, coming down to three-man race between Spain’s Fernando Alarza, Briton Thomas Bishop and American Kevin McDowell. Alarza had the strongest legs at the end of the run, surging away in the final stretch to take the win in 52:15. Bishop held off McDowell for second, finishing three seconds back of Alarza.
Bishop, a training partner of Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, was quick to credit his teammates for helping him earn the silver medal.
“I get to train with both Brownlees on a daily basis and I see how hard they train,” Bishop said. “It’s so motivating to be around them on a regular basis.”