SECRET TO SUCCESS
ASH OUT OF THIS WORLD
BLINDFOLDED and standing on top of a 3m platform at the Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, triathlete Ashleigh Gentle was ready to let go of her fears.
Triathlon Australia international performance centre head coach Jamie Turner has revealed the left-field experiment conducted last week with AIS sports psychologist Jason Patchell that helped propel Gentle to the greatest win of her career at the ITU World Triathlon Series grand final on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
“Ashleigh was diving backwards blindfolded into a foam pit,” Turner said.
“To stand on top of an almost 3m platform, put a blindfold on and get at one with your fears, learn to be comfortable and see a positive result in spite of fear. To fall backwards into a foam pit is something that certainly helped her (on Saturday).”
Gentle said the mind-strengthening exercise put her in the right mental space to seal a stunning win following a sprint finish with series winner Vicky Holland of Britain.
“This year I have been tested,” Gentle said. “To focus on not just the physical aspect of triathlon but also the psychological aspect as well and to make sure my head was in the right place before the race so I wasn’t going into races already defeated.
“They are a few little things to challenge me in other ways. I think it’s something I’ll keep working on and it’s helped me a lot.”
The woman considered the best female bike-runner in the WTS has often had her hopes of victory dashed by the end of the swim legs.
On Saturday Gentle exited the water just 27 seconds down on the leaders after the 1.5km swim and she had caught the lead pack with 17km left of the 40km ride.
That position allowed the 27-year-old to save energy in the final stages of the bike leg before unleashing on the 10km run as Holland and American Katie Zaferes battled to decide who would win the series.
Gentle finished the race with blood in her shoe and a smile on her face.
“I just had a bit of difficulty getting (my shoe) on (in transition),” Gentle said.
“The tongue was stuck right at the front the whole time. I have got a lot of blood in my shoe and quite a big cut. It kind of distracted me from the pain in the rest of my body so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”