Aussie triathletes do the double

Emma Snowsill and Bradley Kahlefeldt both used superior final legs to distance themselves from the pack and capture Australia’s first triathlon gold medals at the St Kilda foreshore today.

24-year-old Snowsill was in eighth position following the 40km bike section and was still in a pack of 13 athletes with 6km of the run leg remaining, but assisted by a vocal home crowd, she powered away to secure Australia’s inaugural Games victory in 1hr:58min.02sec.

New Zealand pair Samantha Warriner and Andrea Hewitt scooped the minor medals, finishing 36 and 43 seconds behind respectively.

It was a similar story in the men’s triathlon later in the afternoon, though Kahlefeldt was made to work right up to the finish line. The 26-year-old New South Welshman emerged from the 1.5km swim in seventh spot and despite a concerted push forward at the halfway mark with teammate Peter Robertson, only improved that by one place after the bike leg.

However, he moved forward as the kilometres ticked down and in the final run held off a gallant Bevan Docherty (NZ) to salute a popular win in 1hr:49min.16sec, ten seconds clear of the New Zealander. Robertson, 9th at the Manchester Games, picked up the bronze, another six seconds away.

Afterwards, Kahlefeldt spoke of the tremendous support he received from the public lining the route, which was influential in helping him get over the line.

“The crowd just went nuts. I haven’t had that before,” Kahlefeldt said.

“It was a big team effort. I trained a lot with Robbo and we worked out our tactics.”

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!