Brown takes bronze in Commonwealth triathlon
Joanna GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA Brown won Canada’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, collecting bronze in the women’s triathlon.
It was a gutsy performance from the 24-year-old from Carp, Ont., who almost didn’t make the race after fracturing her left shoulder in a bike crash March 2 in the opening race of the 2018 ITU World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi.
Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, two-time world champion and world No. 1, won the first gold of the games under sunny skies and a temperature of 27 C at Southport Broadwater Parklands in a time of 56 minutes, 50 seconds. No. 7 Jessica Learmonth of England took the silver, 43 seconds behind, with Brown another five seconds in arrears. Brown edged England’s Vicky Holland by four seconds.
Brown made the podium the hard way. She was 11th after the swim and 10th after the bike ride, picking off one rival after another during the run, eventually winning the duel with Holland for third.
“I lost my legs at the end of the run,” said Holland. “Joanna deserved the bronze. She ran really smart to finish it off, and deserved all the credit for winning the bronze.”
The Gold Coast event took place on a sprint course for the first time at the games. The course featured a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike ride and a five-kilometre run.
The Olympic event features a 1.5-kilometre swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run.
Brown, who has put her commerce degree at the University of Guelph on hold while she follows her triathlon dream, is ranked ninth in the ITU world rankings.
Brown had a career year in 2017 when she finished on the podium at three World Cup events, was fourth twice on the World Triathlon Series and placed fifth at the world championships in Rotterdam.