Leg injury hinders Murray’s bid for three-peat
South African Richard Murray has his sights set on a third consecutive title at New Plymouth’s ITU World Cup triathlon sprint event tomorrow.
However, he’ll have to overcome an Achilles injury and Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman to do so.
Murray comes into the event on the back of the three-day Super League triathlon event in Hamilton Island, Australia in midmarch, where he was able to come out on top but the three-race event taking its toll.
‘‘My ankle flared up a little bit. I had an Achilles problem which I haven’t had before and so I pretty much didn’t run for about six days after Hamilton Island. I’ve done a couple of runs before the week so hopefully it pulls right for the weekend,’’ Murray said.
Murray has been in strong form so far this season, despite not having had much time for solid
blocks of training.
‘‘I hate mentioning how little training I’ve been doing but it was literally three weeks in Namibia and then I’ve done four races since then, with one or two weeks in between.
‘‘This year I’m taking a different approach - a bit more fun, some training in here and there and see what the cards hold.’’
A strong field is set to contest the men’s event in New Plymouth.
Schoeman leads the South African charge with Murray, who finished one spot back of Schoeman in fourth at the Rio Olympics, and Wian Sullwald.
The South Africans won’t have the race handed to them though, with world No 6 Joao Silva of Portugal and world No 7 Crisanto Grajales of Mexico rounding out an impressive list of athletes.
Ryan Sissons leads the Kiwis and will be looking to go one better than his fourth-placed finish last year.
Murray’s experiences on course will no doubt play into his favour as the unpredictable Taranaki conditions could play a part in determining the outcome.
‘‘Tyre choices are a big thing here, and the weather - you never know what you can get here.
‘‘It’s usually a wetsuit swim here, the water’s usually a bit fresh.
‘‘That plays as a bit of a benefit to the non-swimmers, or not top swimmers anyway.’’
Last year, Murray made the most of a strong swim, among the first few out of the water, and rode well to find himself perfectly positioned for the run home where he proved too strong for the field.
With the swim arguably his weakest leg in the triathlon, if he can find himself among the first out of the water tomorrow, he’ll surely be a prominent feature down the home straight.