Tri and stop us when we’re running
TRIATHLON
COMMONWEALTH Games silver medallist Jake Birtwhistle says his success is just the start for a young Australian men’s triathlon team determined to put the nation back at the top of the sport.
Birtwhistle headlined a young trio of triathletes including Matt Hauser, 20, and Luke Willian, 21, to make their Games debuts in style on Thursday. Hauser finished fourth and Willian was eighth.
Birtwhistle said it marked a shift in a sport dominated by the likes of English brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee as the group of young men look to make Australia the premier triathlon country again.
“I am pretty sure this is just the start, so we will see what happens from here,” Birtwhistle said ahead of today’s mixed team relay final. “So to be in this position I am in right now, still quite young, it puts me in good stead for the future.”
Australia missed out on medals in the women’s race but Ashleigh Gentle (fifth), Gillian Backhouse (ninth) and Charlotte McShane (11th) were all among the top performers.
The Triathlon Australia under-23 development coach, Dan Atkins, said it was a good sign as the current mixed team relay world champions look to win gold in today’s team event.
Triathlon Australia remains tight-lipped on the identify of the four triathletes chosen to compete in the relay from the six-person team.
It is believed its greatest debate is between McShane and Backhouse. McShane was part of last year’s world title winning team but she could lose her spot. TRIATHLON Australia coach Dan Atkins has revealed he wasn’t sure if Matt Hauser would be fit to race in the Commonwealth Games when he went down with a mysterious leg injury in October.
It was weeks before Triathlon Australia named the threeman team for the Gold Coast Games and Atkins conceded they were worried it would affect whether or not selectors took a chance on the then 19year-old who went on to finish fourth in his Games debut.
“We weren’t sure he would even be fit and healthy enough to do the event,” Atkins said.
“The selectors gave us the confidence we could get right.”
Hauser, who turned 20 on Tuesday, brushed it off as a niggle at the time but in the aftermath of Games performance, Atkins has revealed the emerging star had injured a ligament in his ankle.
Hauser didn’t race for six months as a result, making his return via the Mooloolaba World Cup in March where he placed second.
The selector’s faith in Hauser paid off on Thursday with the emerging star staying with the leaders in the 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run before finishing fourth. it