Australian triathlon great Craig Alexander continues to rack up victories in his 40s, winning the national long-course title in Geelong.
Alexander successfully defended his Geelong 70.3 - half-Ironman distance - title on Sunday as he won the event for the fourth time.
The 41-year-old had to fight off a strong challenge from Sam Appleton, who is 17 years younger.
Liz Blatchford won the women's national title after running down Rebekah Keat.
The win was a welcome return to form for Alexander, who finished 13th at the Hawaiian Ironman world championships in October.
Alexander has won the Hawaii title three times and is also a two-time 70.3 world champion.
I was disappointed after Kona (Hawaii) last year and took some time off," Alexander said.
"I trained through Christmas and actually feel fitter than I did last year at the same time."
Alexander had the lead after the 1.9km swim and 90km cycle, but Appleton was on his shoulder for much of the 21.1km half-marathon run.
He pulled clear in the last few kilometres to win in three hours 46 minutes 26 seconds with Appleton only 17 seconds behind and New Zealander Mark Bowstead third in 3:51:14.
It is nice to come back and win - I've got a great record here," Alexander said.
"Hats off to Sammy, what he did today was world class."
Appleton was philosophical about his near-miss.
"I gave it all I could, but the old guy got me in the end," he said.
Blatchford, a top-three finisher at Hawaii, Keat and New Zealander Gina Crawford came off the bike within seconds of each other in the women's race.
Keat took off early in the run and built a minute's lead, but Blatchford held a steady pace and caught her.
She won in 4:18:34, with Keat 29 seconds behind.
Australian Sarah Crowley passed Crawford for third in 4:20:52.
I only had one pace today, so I just had to run my own race," Blatchford said.
"I held steady and she blew up and started to come back to me, so I dug deep and managed to get the win."
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