Joe Gambles has finished off the international triathlon season with a silver medal at the 2011 Long Distance Triathlon World titles, which were run in Las Vegas today. This is the worthy result Gambles has been searching for all year, after being close to the podium, with a top 5 at the 70.3 World Champs, top 20 at his first attempt at Kona, as well as wins at 70.3 IM Australia and Boulder 70.3 with a new course record.
The race was modified early on Saturday morning due to cold water temperatures, forcing the swim leg to be cancelled for athlete safety. Instead athletes started the bike in staggered five-second interval starts, with the overall time split determining the results.
Denmark’s Martin Jensen put out an early lead on the hilly bike course with a 6 minute lead into transition. The chasing athletes of Gambles, eventual winner Jordan Rapp (USA) and Sylvain Sudrie (FRA) all had similar bike times, and were looking to fight it for the fastest run split, with Rapp recording 1.49.31 for the 30km run and taking the title in 5.00.15. With Jensen fading, Sudrie and Gambles recorded similar run times, with Gambles faster transition the difference between silver (5.02.57) and bronze (5.03.23).
A number of other Tasmanians made the trip over that I am aware of, with an early report that Holly Claridge has won her age group, along with Dave Herbig and Heather Carins due to compete. If there are any others that you are aware of, please let me know.
