Bronze brings thought of a second

TROY Ruston will shift his focus towards securing a second ITU World Age Group Triathlon Championship medal after claiming bronze in the sprint format.

The Paradise Point resident produced the fastest split time of any Gold Coast triathlete across every category yester- day in the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run format.

Ruston’s performance of 1 hour and 17 seconds put him on the podium behind winner Todd Buckingham (US) and Malcolm King (New Zealand).

King held a sizeable lead on the rest of the field coming out of the water.

Ruston, 28, and Buckingham led the way for the chase pack before the American produced a 15.50 minute run split to seal the win.

“The race worked out all right,” Ruston said.

“I swam a lot better than I normally would. I have made a bit of progress there in the last few weeks.

“The bike was crazy. Me and (Buckingham) were taking turns towing the group. We tried to break away but it didn’t quite work.

“I had no idea what to expect going into the race. Top 10 is a great result.”

Ruston will compete in the standard distance world title race on Sunday.

Meanwhile, fellow Gold Coaster Alli Cooke won bronze in the female 45-49 age category, finishing in a time of 1:06.13.