Ashleigh grateful for a gentle landing afterall
ASHLEIGH Gentle’s early disgust at crashing out of the opening round of the world triathlon series has turned to gratitude after she realised how close she could have come to missing the Commonwealth Games.
Gentle was among the casualties on an Abu Dhabi course that resembled an ice slick once rain hit the Formula 1 circuit during the bike leg.
“Unfortunately it ended up being a race where it was just (about) survival,” said Gentle, who finished last season ranked No.2 in the world.
“There were lots of crashes, unfortunately I came down too but I was able to get up and I was able to finish in 13th.
“I was so disappointed, but then after a while, I (realised) I have to be happy.
“There were girls that were concussed and girls that were badly injured, so thankfully that wasn’t me because that would really put a damper on my preparation for Comm Games. So I’m just feeling grateful now.”
Gentle had already decided to prioritise the world series opener over the Mooloolaba World Cup but she couldn’t stay away from one of her favourite events on the race calendar and headed to the Sunshine Coast over the weekend to compete in the 5km twilight run and ocean swim to continue to hone her Games preparations.
“I didn’t want to come up and just be a spectator, that’s just me, I guess, wanting to be a part of everything, so I’m happy to be here to have a nice fast and hard run,” she said.
Gentle will put the final touches on her competition program this weekend, competing for Australia in a mixed relay event at Runaway Bay.