Games on the radar
Multisport star set on landing triathlon berth for Tokyo Games
TASMANIA’S multisport star Cameron Wurf has his sights on becoming a dual Olympian — 16 years apart — by declaring he will chase one of the country’s triathlon slots at the Tokyo Games. Having been part of the lightweight double scull in Athens in 2004 (above), Wurf says he will quickly turn his attention from the Ironman World Championships to the sprint distance version of the sport. Wurf (pictured right) finished fifth in the gruelling Hawaiian Ironman on Sunday .
MULTISPORT star Cameron Wurf has his sights on becoming a dual Olympian — 16 years apart — by declaring he will chase one of the country’s triathlon slots at the Tokyo Games.
Having been part of the lightweight double scull in Athens in 2004, Wurf has told the Mercury he will quickly turn his attention from the Ironman World Championships to the sprint distance version of the sport.
Wurf, who originally left rowing to become a professional cyclist, cracked the top five for the first time at Kona on Sunday despite feeling “flat”.
He will spend a week recovering from the gruelling race — coming just three weeks after he won an Ironman in Italy — before preparing for a triathlon event in South America.
“It’s an Olympic year and as you know I’m a huge fan of the Olympics, I went once and that was what, 16 years ago,” Wurf said in the aftermath of Kona.
“I’d hate to get to the end of my career and not at least try to give it one last crack of making it.
“I had a great year improving in every area in the swim, bike and run, though there in Kona showed my swimming was still a bit of a weakness. “We felt that at least targeting Olympic selection — the swim is so crucial in that ITU racing — that it will have a huge payoff for me here in Ironman.
“I’m obviously very hungry to try and make it happen, and that worst-case scenario ideally is I will improve my swim and my run, which is what I need to do to try to finish better in Kona.”
Wurf has revealed another motivating factor to try and prove his credentials over the traditional triathlon distance is the potential to join forces with another Tasmanian at the Olympics.
Jake Birtwhistle is the No.1 Australian and fourth in the world on the ITU rankings, and barring injury is an almost certain starter in Tokyo.
Wurf will kick off his Olympic quest at the Santo Domingo ITU Triathlon World Cup on November 9 and 10.
“We’ve got some amazing triathletes and there’s a good chance Jake will be selected and him being on the team is a huge reason why I want to be there, to be there with a fellow Tasmanian would be amazing,” Wurf said.
“Firstly I need to get myself in the top 140 in the world rankings to be even eligible for the selectors to pick me by the middle of May.
“It’s a rolling ranking which has been going on for two years, so I’m way behind the eight-ball, we’ve only got a limited number of races to get it.
“That’s really going to be the first obstacle, but obviously in that process of racing to get points I’ll be able to show if I’m worthy or not.”