Ash overcomes odds
MONTREAL World Triathlon Series winner Ashleigh Gentle has had her celebrations put on hold after collapsing following the biggest victory of her career.
Gentle fainted within minutes of winning her first WTS race yesterday and spent two hours with medical officers on a drip in a bid to rehydrate.
The 26-year-old Gold Coast triathlete overcame an upper respiratory tract infection to beat series leader – and formerly undefeated – Flora Duffy in the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run.
The health concerns couldn’t stop Gentle from relishing the breakthrough win that came six years after making her WTS debut.
“I’m really still in shock – I didn’t expect it that’s for sure,” Gentle said.
“It is still so surreal, I can’t believe I’ve won but I am proud of myself.”
The Commonwealth Games-bound triathlete came out of the water in a strong position and got off the bike with the lead pack before leaving Duffy in her wake on the run to win in a time of 1 hour: 59min: 3sec.
Gentle has moved back into second on the world rankings with two more races left, including Stockholm on August 26 and the grand final in Rotterdam on September 16. The 2010 junior world champion has finished second in races five times in her elite career and her first win came against all odds.
“I had to dig deep and test myself. I had been close a few times before and it ended up being my day,” Gentle said.
“I had a good chat with my coach Jamie Turner (on Saturday night) and we discussed getting the little processes right and not the end result. That didn’t really matter but doing those little things right with no pressure.
“I just felt so terrible but I thought I’d come this far to be here. There was no pressure and it was just about feeling comfortable about what could happen.”
Turner revealed how U.S. triathlete and Rio gold medallist Gwen Jorgensen, who he coached to two world championships in 2014 and 2015, helped lead Gentle to success in Canada.
Jorgensen had a similar setback in 2015 before the London leg of the series but went on to win complete an undefeated season to seal her second world title.
“We had discussed how to handle what I call ‘derailers’ and how to best manage those,” Turner said.
“She decided to race and she went into the race feeling calm and relaxed with a plan.
“We also used an example of what Gwen went through under similar circumstances in 2015 when she was sick before she won a race in London and how calm and relaxed she was that day.
“We gave Ashleigh the choice to pull out or race and if she chose to race the benefits were that she could grow a whole lot taller.
“We’re all proud of her.”