Triathlon: Ashleigh Gentle ran herself into a World Triathlon Series silver medal in Yokohama and will be looking for another podium finish in Hamburg.
Ashleigh Gentle confirmed she has her sights set on the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after she impressed the triathlon world with a silver medal at the Yokohama, Japan World Triathlon Series race earlier this year.
The Gold Coast triathlete finished behind power house American athlete, Gwen Jorgensen who claimed her ninth consecutive WTS title. Emma Moffatt, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympian claimed the bronze.
After a fifty-day hiatus, the World Triathlon Series is finally back as it returns to Hamburg, Germany this weekend.
The Hamburg course marks a special moment in Australia’s triathlon history, when in 2011 a trio of Emmas; Emma Moffatt, Emma Jackson and Emma Snowsill stood on the podium together and Australia became the first National Federation to take out the first three positions.
This weekend’s race will feature a one-lap swim, six-lap bike, two-lap run sprint distance course which will be jam-packed with star-studded elites all eager to compete.
Gentle will be looking to back up her Yokohama silver medal and last WTS race, hopefully with Hamburg presenting slightly better conditions that the challenging Japanese course.
The wet and rainy Yokohama fixture provided the women with rough conditions and slippery roads to accompany the already tight and technical bike course.
After a reasonable swim in tough and choppy conditions, Gentle worked hard on her first two laps of the nine lap bike course to secure herself a position in the front pack.
Despite being caught by the chase pack of athletes, Gentle was determined to put herself in a good position leading into the run so she stayed at the front of the pack.
With the run remaining, Gentle said she felt surprisingly good.
“I held back a little at the start but eventually had the confidence to accelerate a little and not look back.”
After establishing a gap on the running group behind her, Gentle was able to hold her position in second place.
“My training had been tracking really well in the lead up to the event, but sometimes that’s something you can’t take for granted leading into a ITU triathlon race, anything can happen,” Gentle said.
It has been a long journey for the 24-year-old, who was a strong runner throughout her schooling years before following a family friend across to the sport of triathlon.
After being convinced to also try swimming and cycling, Gentle was hooked, drawn to the diversity of the sport.
“Training for three different sports is a huge challenge and balancing act, but I really enjoy it,” she said.
Gentle enjoyed a stellar junior career, with two silver medals at the 2007 and 2008 Junior World Championships.
It wasn’t until 2010, when Gentle was crowned Junior World Champion in Budapest, she decided she wanted to take up triathlon as a profession.
Despite her success, Gentle says the real wins aren’t until you reach the senior stages.
“I guess it doesn’t really count until you start doing well as a senior, so my silver on the weekend is probably now more of a highlight,” she said.
In the last five years Gentle has moved up to the Olympic distance and eventually got her first start in a World Triathlon Series event at the end in 2011, where she finished ninth.
After recording more than 10 top 10 finishes in the World Triathlon Series in 2012 and 2013, Gentle was selected in the 2014 Commonwealth Games Team to represent Australia in Glasgow.
However, while the Commonwealth Games proved to be special moment in her career, Gentle was disappointed after she finished ninth and missed out on selection in the four athlete team relay.
But Gentle says she took some valuable lessons from the experience.
“The Olympics will no doubt be another scale up, so I am grateful for what I was able to experience and learn in Glasgow” said Gentle.
This year’s main goal for Gentle will be to do well at the test event in Rio, held in August this year.
The event is one of the key selection events to qualify for the Australian team for the 2016 Games.
Gentle says being selected on the Australian team would be a huge honour.
“Australian women have a rich history at the Olympic Games and to be on the team for Rio would be a dream come true, as cliché as it sounds!”
With a course that runs along the iconic Copacabana beach and winds around South American mountain ranges, the 2016 Olympic Triathlon is set to be a picturesque yet challenging event.
“There will be some steep climbs that will make things interesting, so it will be exciting to see how things go in the test event,” Gentle said.
Gentle said she has been preparing for this season for a long time, with this year’s success not happening overnight.
“I have previously struggled with injury, so my Coach Cliff English was conservative to start and I think I’m finding a good balance now.”
When asked about her favourite Australian Olympic moment, Gentle, like most ten-year-olds at the time, says she can’t forget Cathy Freeman winning the 400m gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Gentle will be joined by a number of fellow Australian triathletes this weekend in Hamburg including Olympic bronze medallist Erin Densham, Emma Jackson, Charlotte McShane, Natalie Van Coevorden and Gillian Backhouse.
With only four rounds of the World Triathlon Series to go for 2015, stakes will be high and athletes looking to impress as we lead into the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The women will kick off the elite WTS Hamburg action on Saturday at 3:45pm local time (11:45pm AEST), followed by the men’s race at 5:45pm local time (1:45am Sunday AEST).
Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au
