Murray sharpening up for Commonwealth

DURBANVILLE boytjie Richard Murray will be looking to emulate last year’s performance when he lines up for the Discovery Triathlon World Cup in his own backyard in Cape Town tomorrow.

Murray lead a podium sweep at last year’s event despite copping a 10-second penalty when he failed to put his helmet in the box.

Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman followed shortly on his heels with former junior world champion Wian Sullwald rounding off the podium.

“I haven’t raced in a couple of months but we had a good training block with the Dutch national team in Windhoek the last three weeks,” Murray said.

“I am feeling good but it is great to be back in Cape Town and to be racing in front of the home crowd is always a good one.”

Murray had another good year on the international circuit in 2017 winning the inaugural Super League title in Hamilton in February after claiming his maiden World Cup victory on home soil.

Confirming his status as one of the top triathletes on the global circuit, Murray finished fifth on the World Triathlon Series (WTS) rankings.

While the Commonwealth Games will require much of Murray’s focus over the next two months, he is looking for a solid year in the WTS.

“The next big hurdle is obviously the Commonwealth Games and although the qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games opens in May this year I will focus on that more towards the of this year.”

The depth of South Africa’s male triathletes bodes well for the country’s medal chances at the Commonwealth Games.

Murray won bronze at the 2014 Glasgow event while he also won the silver as a member of the mixed relay team with Schoeman, Gillian Sanders, and Kate Roberts.

The two- time Olympian Murray explained his goals for the Commonwealth. “I want to podium. We will see, I definitely think I’ve done the training to start off well so hopefully things will progress towards the start of April.”

Murray said he was feeling bullish about South Africa’s chances in the mixed relay in Australia especially, with Simone Ackermann in the mix.

“We are definitely going to have a better chance and hopefully get a medal,” Murray said.

“It was quite a shock the last time we won a medal in Glasgow in the mixed relay because we were up against strong competitors.”