Australia has achieved a proud record of success in this event, having won five medals since its debut at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 where Michellie Jones won silver. Four years later in Athens Loretta Harrop again claimed silver. At Beijing 2008, Emma Snowsill won the illusive gold with Emma Moffatt the bronze. Erin Densham was Australia’s last medallist with bronze at London 2012.

After a tough day of competition for the men’s team, Gentle, Hedgeland and Jeffcoat will be even more determined to build on that record.

Gentle has plenty of motivation to produce her best in Tokyo after enduring a frustrating experience in Rio before she even hit the course – her travel plans proved chaotic, her luggage went missing, she missed the first familiarisation season and when her bike finally arrived it was damaged.

But Tokyo has proved to be a much more enjoyable experience, despite the restrictions in place, and the Queenslander is primed to improve on her Rio result, where she placed 26th.

“We know Ashleigh has had some outstanding results in her career, culminating in that World Triathlon grand final win on the Gold Coast in 2018, and she is going out there to give Tokyo the best shot she can,” Triathlon Australia’s Performance Director and Olympic Team Leader Justin Drew said.

“There is no doubt she is using her Rio experiences as motivation leading into Tokyo.

“Ash knows she has to put herself in the race with a strong swim and that’s where her training emphasis has been over this period over the recent months.

“This race is clearly going to come down to who can position themselves well and put together a performance in the heat, and I know that is something Ash believes she can do.”

First-time Olympians Hedgeland and Jeffcoat round out a talented line-up, and Drew believes the pair will thrive in the tough conditions.

“Both Jaz and Emma have progressed significantly over the past couple of years,” Drew said.

“Emma has always had a great front-end race and Jaz’s run has continued to ramp up over the last year.

“One thing I like across the board, it is a young team and it is a team that’s moving up. Clearly there is an opportunity to create a momentum and something that we want to see from the sport not only at the Games but coming out of Tokyo as we head towards Birmingham (2022 Commonwealth Games) and then rapidly back into Paris.”

With the international calendar impacted by COVID, and minimal racing over the past 18 months, the Australians could fly under the radar of some nations.

There are many athletes who could challenge for the top spots. Favourites include Switzerland’s 2012 London gold medallist and Rio silver medallist Nicola Spirig, who at 39, will line up in a record fifth Olympics, and Bermuda’s two-time world champion Flora Duffy can never be discounted. At the Yokahama World Series race in May, where the Tokyo athletes didn’t race for Australia, Americans Taylor Knibb and Summer Rappaport claimed the top spots with Maya Kingma (NED) taking the bronze. Rappaport won the Tokyo Test Event in 2019.

The race starts at 7.30am AEST on Tuesday.

David Taylor