22-year-old Olympian Ryan Bailie has won the National Duathlon Championships, held today at the City of Armadale Duathlon at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre.
It was Ryan’s first race in his home state since the Rio Olympics where he finished tenth.
“It was great to race back in Perth, it’s always special to race in front of a WA crowd,” said Bailie.
“It was an excellent course even with tough conditions. I confirmed that I could race yesterday so it was fantastic that the organisers were able to let me compete.”
Despite heavy winds, Bailie was in exceptional form and was able to shrug off strong cyclist Matthew Burton in the final run leg despite coming off the bike leg and into the transition area at the same time.
In the women's event local Katey Gibb put together a first class performance to dominate and earn herself an Australian Championship title.
Over 600 competitors participated in the event as part of their bid for Australian Champion Status and selection into the 2017 Australian World Duathlon Team.
Paralympian Brant Garvey also took part in the event.
The race, which is held at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre is a run-bike-run format and includes three distances - the long course, short course and Tadpoles race for kids.
The long course consists of a 5km run, 20km cycle and 2.5km run.
It is a part of the Triathlon Australia National Calendar and is a national and state championship event for age group and elite triathletes.
Event Manager, Lachlan Matthews was excited to have Bailie in the mix.
“It’s always a fantastic atmosphere at Champion Lakes when you know that the best athletes in the world are competing. To have our home-grown Olympian racing was just awesome” said Lachlan.
“The world qualifying points were up for grabs and that makes the race even more exciting – everyone tries to find that extra ten per-cent left in the tank.”
Open Long Course Male Participant Placings
1. Ryan Bailie 56:50:18
2. Matthew Burton 57:00:52
3. Thomas Bruins 57:22:50
Open Long Course Female Participant Placings
1. Katey Gibb 1:04:27
2. Kirby Diaz 1:07:56
3. Janet Ferguson 1:09:00
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