A close run thing but Courtney’s back
DESPITE the frustration, Courtney Hancock can see the bright side.
Hancock finished a single place away from claiming a fourth Nutri-Grain ironwoman series crown yesterday when she stumbled getting to her feet off the final board leg and lost a sprint to the finish line.
After a horror 2015-16 season in which she failed to automatically requalify and questioned whether she still had what it took to be among the best in the sport, Hancock has showed emphatically she is back.
She won the Coolangatta Gold in October but always had her eyes set on a fourth series title.
But amid the bitter disappointment yesterday, Hancock – who could not buy a wave when she needed one in the churning North Cronulla swell – had only praise for Northcliffe clubmate Harriet Brown, who claimed her maiden series title.
“Congratulations to Harriet, it’s consistency at the end of the day and she did that,’’ Hancock said.
“I’m very happy for her, it’s her first one and I’m sure she’ll be stoked with that.
“In a way I did achieve a goal. I wanted to go out this Sunday in contention for the series and I did that.’’
Hancock attacked the eight-woman eliminator final, leading from the front and putting herself in a position to win the race – and the title – with Brown missing a wave on the board that would have put her with the leaders.
But with Naomi Scott and Danielle McKenzie joining Hancock on the lead wave, the series was still in play for Brown, who lead Hancock by four points heading into the decider and needed to finish no worse than a single place behind her.
“I felt awesome when I stepped on the line, I felt fresh and the last one was the one I went hard – I went hard from the start but unfortunately I had to paddle all the way in.
“Running up the beach has never been my forte ... the girls are very fast runners and unfortunately I couldn’t put a big gap between Harriet and myself,” Hancock said.
“It hurts being so close but Harriet’s my teammate and I’m very happy for her.
“I’ll be back next year and hopefully I can learn from this.”