Olympic blow to Birtwhistle

TASMANIA’S world-class triathlete Jake Birtwhistle said sayonara to automatic selection for the Tokyo Games next year after his hopes were blown away on a stormy day in Japan for the Olympic test event.

The No.1 seed failed to secure even a top-10 finish.

Birtwhistle went into the race in hot form and the man to beat in a race in which the first three finishers automatically booked their ticket to Tokyo.

An unexpected change in conditions from hot and humid to warm and windy did not suit the Tasmanian.

He said it was the biggest factor in his performance, finishing outside the top 10 after chasing the pack from being 38th out of the water.

“Finishing 11th, it’s pretty disappointing,” Birtwhistle said.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the automatic selection, which is what we were here to do.

“But we’ll move on to the next race in a couple of weeks and plan to be back here in 12 months regardless of not getting selection today.”

Out of the water, Birtwhistle worked hard to catch the lead pack on the bike, along with Australian teammates Matt Hauser, Ryan Fisher and Luke Willian.

“Thankfully I had a couple of other strong riders who were willing to do a bit of work to get up to the front,” he said.

“I got there and stayed safe, which was a big tick on this course, because it’s quite challenging and demanding.”

Birtwhistle’s tactics on the run leg ultimately brought his downfall.

“I made the mistake of treating today’s conditions like what we trained for, what we expected, thinking it was going to be super-hot and humid and that’s what not we had,” Birtwhistle said.

“I started off a bit conservatively and in doing so just put myself out of the race.”

Birtwhistle will compete in the mixed relay Olympic test event tomorrow.