Ashleigh Gentle won her first ITU Mooloolaba World Cup gold yesterday, backing up after last week’s gold medal efforts for Australia in the mixed relay at WTS Abu Dhabi. After taking silver in 2017 and bronze in 2015, she has finally captured the top prize after battling over the sprint distance in sizzling hot conditions on the Gold Coast.
Gentle’s run legs came good and clinched her the victory after she came out of the 750-meter swim in the chase pack. A strategic ride over 20 kilometers put her within striking distance of the front as the pack swallowed up the erstwhile breakaway in front. She then made quick work of the final 5 kilometers to break the tape first.
“If you’re not in a good position coming out of T2 and onto the run then you’re already a bit behind and this can easily happen in these really short races, so I just tried to really build the run. I was definitely hurting towards the end but really happy I could keep it going until the end,” Gentle said.
Her Olympic quest continues, with the main goal doing well at the test race in August.
“My whole year revolves around that as we have to get a top three to get an automatic qualification for Triathlon Australia,” she continued. “If I know I am going to the Olympics a year out that would be a dream come true.”
