Australian triathletes dominate in NZ

Emma Moffatt won the women's race and Marcel Walkington the men's event as Australian triathletes dominated the Oceania championships.

Australians Emma Moffatt and Emma Jeffcoat stamped their authority early on the Oceania Triathlon Championships in New Zealand on Saturday before Moffatt eased away for a narrow win.

The women's race was essentially over as a contest the moment that Moffatt and Jeffcoat caught a wave into the beach on the second of two swim laps, body surfing out of sight of chasing Kiwi Simone Ackermann.

With a lead of close to two minutes out of the water, the pair rode away from the chasing pack on the bike leg before Moffatt showed her class on the run to take a 2hr 2min 24sec win ahead of Jeffcoat's 2:04.58.

Moffatt was all smiles as she crossed the line, knowing that she is in great form with a key ITU World Series race that could decider her Olympic fate coming up on the Gold Coast next month.

"Emma and I worked really well on the bike, but the headwind was tough coming back each time which stung the legs a little bit.

"Likewise, on the run it was hard running into that wind. It's a tough year - trying to get into the Olympic team for Australia is a hard feat in itself."

The men's race featured an Australian trifecta, with Marcel Walkington winning from Aaron Royle and Jake Birtwhistle after the trio broke away on the swim.

Walkington sprinted home for a 1:52.06 win, fractionally ahead of Royle's 1:52:14, with Birtwhistle less than a second back in third.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Australian triathletes dominate in NZ | SBS News