Canadian mixed triathletes settle for fourth

Matt Sharpe of Victoria gave it his all, only to watch the New Zealand runner cross the finish line in front of him for the bronze medal, in the triathlon mixed team relay event Friday of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Canada, with a team that included 18-year-old Desirae Ridenour of Cowichan Bay, was fourth behind winner and defending world champion Australia, silver-medallist England, which was powered by the legendary Brownlee brothers, and the bronze-medallist Kiwis.

“It was hard, and I wish I could have been there at the end,” said Sharpe.

“I was frustrated by how I couldn’t get up there.”

But it’s a deep event in the Games, with Commonwealth nations taking five of the slots in the current world top-10 rankings with No. 1 Australia, No. 4 Britain, No. 5 Canada, No. 7 South Africa and No. 9 New Zealand.

The event makes its Olympic debut at Tokyo in 2020 and the Victoria-based Canadian team has targeted a medal there.

“Hopefully, we have a medal around our necks in the upcoming years,” said Sharpe, a native of Campbell River, who graduated from Claremont Secondary.

The mixed relay comprises a female-male-female-male format in which each of the racers swim 300 metres, cycle 6.6 kilometres and run one kilometre before tagging off to the next relay teammate.

Meanwhile, in the pool Friday, Faith Knelson of Ladysmith made the women’s 50-metre breaststroke final in her first major Games and placed seventh. Jade Hannah of Victoria, another Games rookie, advanced to today’s women’s 100-metre backstroke final by qualifying sixth in 1:00.37. The final will feature three Canadians as world champion Kylie Masse qualified first in 58.66 and Taylor Ruck third in 1:00.06.

In Friday’s highlight, the women’s artistic gymnastics team won Canada's second gold medal of the Games, which run through April 15. There are 283 Canadian athletes competing in Gold Coast, of which 52 are from the Island or who live and train full-time in Greater Victoria.