TRI TO STOP GENTLE NOW
GREAT TIPS WORLD GLORY:
TRIATHLON legend Michellie Jones says Ashleigh Gentle’s breakthrough win in Montreal is the spark she needs to become Australia’s next world champion.
Jones was an Aussie triathlon pioneer, winning world championships in 1992 and 1993 to begin a legacy of sustained glory that has made the country the most successful on the women’s circuit.
Australia has gone on to win 13 of 28 world championships through Emma Carney, Jackie Gallagher, Loretta Harrop, Nicole Hackett, Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt.
Gold Coast’s Moffatt was the last Australian to win a world title in 2010.
Jones went on to become the first Australian to win a world ironman title and has recently found success as a guide for Gold Coast-based paratriathlete Katie Kelly.
The pair won the 2015 world title and gold at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
Jones said Gentle had now proven she has everything needed to win a world title after casting aside illness to win in Montreal on Saturday.
“I was so thrilled to see Ashleigh win,” Jones said.
“It will give her a big confidence boost. I am sure she doesn’t think too much about the legacy as much as going out and doing her best.
“Definitely getting the monkey off your back and checking a victory off her goals is going to give her the self-belief now needed to set up a world championship title.
“I am sure the goals will remain the same swim, bike and run to her potential.”
It is the first WTS win for an Australian woman since Erin Densham (Hamburg, 2012).
The result continued Gentle’s strong year that could prove a career turning point.
Since her 2011 World Triathlon Series debut the former junior world champion has become the country’s next great hope but had previously been unable to cash in on potential, finishing with silver five times.
She battled injury early in her elite career and couldn’t live up to her own expectations at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (ninth) or 2016 Rio Olympics (26th).
The 26-year-old worked with two coaches before linking with renowned mentor Jamie Turner in Wollongong at the start of this year.