Sissons shines but medals elude Kiwis
GOLD COAST: Kiwi Tayler Reid ran out of gas in the Commonwealth Games men’s triathlon run leg to finish 11th, while Ryan Sissons lifted to come in fifth.
Gisborneborn Reid roared out of the blocks in his preferred swimming leg, finishing the 750m openwater course in second place, and then held strong to stay with the leading pack of five during the 20km cycle.
But he could not keep pace during the 5km run, gradually falling back as 29year old Sissons overtook triathlete after triathlete to earn a topfive finish.
Coming out of the Gold Coast water in 12th place, Sissons climbed to eighth by the end of the cycle and then notched the field’s secondbest run time.
South Africa’s Henri Schoeman claimed surprise gold in 52min 31sec, 18sec ahead of Sissons and 1min 17sec ahead of Reid.
Australian Jacob Birtwhistle finished seven seconds behind Schoeman in second, earning his country’s first 2018 Games medal, while Scot Marc Austin came in third and England’s Brownlee brothers failed to fire.
Jonathan Brownlee finished seventh and Alistair Brownlee, 10th.
‘‘I’m definitely gutted. I raced as long as I could,’’ said 21yearold Reid.
‘‘My lungs were burning and I couldn’t hold those guys.’’
As a result, New Zealand earned no medals in yesterday’s triathlon action.
None of the nation’s trio of female triathletes managed a topfive Gold Coast finish, with Nicole van der Kaay best of the bunch in seventh.
Van der Kaay was 1min 41sec behind winner Flora Duffy, of Bermuda, while Kiwi compatriot Rebecca Spence crossed 2min 22sec behind in 10th.
Despite being considered a goldmedal chance, Andrea Hewitt finished 13th — 3min 58sec behind Duffy, who won with a time of 56min 50sec.
Hewitt struggled early in the water, emerging for the cycle 15th.
It was a place from which she simply could not recover.
‘‘I just got swum on top of again and again,’’ the 36yearold said.
‘‘I thought I’d be able to swim with the group today but I missed that and when I got isolated on the bike, it was really tough and I kept losing time.
‘‘Really, it was just the swim that messed my race up today.’’
Englishwoman Jessica Learmonth finished second, 43sec off Duffy, and Canadian Joanna Brown was another five seconds behind in third. — NZN