There were some concerns this year about the event in Istanbul but once again, those who went got a great race. Sport, once again, rose above the chaos of politics and athletes from 16 nations, including Australia and Canada.

An early lead from the swim took Canada’s Emy Legault, Ukraine’s Margaryta Krylova and Maryna Sokolova along with Australia’s Grace Musgrove out onto the bike course with a comfortable lead.

They kept up the pressure and came into T2 a couple of minutes ahead of the chasing athletes.

Legault simply pushed the pace and made her way easily to the gold medal position with Krylova and Musgrove winning silver and bronze.

The wind and heat would sap the energy of most mortals but these athletes are so well-trained. The Age Group competition that was held, gave many the chance to experience our sport and they must have looked on astonished to see the speed and skill of these international triathletes.

The men’s race was dominated by Andrey Bryukhankov RUS. He led the swim comfortably, rode a solo 40k and then ran to the finish in what must have been his most lonely race for a long time.

He was chased by Ukraine’s Dmytro Malyar whose running is getting stronger with each race. Silver to Ukraine and it was another Russian, Anton Kozlov who claimed bronze.

A successful race that some worried would not happen. Once again, the warmth of the Turkish welcome was felt by our athletes.

We are waiting for some images of the men's race and will upload as soon as we can.