FEATURE STORY
Photo : Delly Carr / Sportshoot and Super League Triathlon
The second day dawned with a six-kilometre cycling individual time trial where athletes would score blistering fast times riding on the Hamilton Island airport tarmac , then slog up steep inclines to the finish line on One Tree Hill . This was Stage 1 of the Equalizer . Cameron Dye of the USA had been tipped as a strong cyclist in pre-race interviews . “ I certainly think that the Equalizer favours my strengths more than the other two formats ,” he had said -- and he delivered , becoming King of the Hill with a time more than one minute faster than the slowest athlete .
In the afternoon , Stage 2 ( swim-run-swim-bike-run ) had a pursuit-style start , with athletes serving their time difference to the time trial winner before diving into the water . However , it only took the first swim to shake up the order once again . Birtwhistle had only been two seconds slower than Dye on the time trial and made quick work of the gap to duke it out with Ben Shaw of Ireland on the first run . Murray stayed close throughout the first four legs and once again pounced on the run to take the win for the day . This time however , he did not look as fresh . “ It wasn ’ t as hot as yesterday , but it was definitely hard out there ,” he said . “ Each day is getting harder and harder .” While Murray led comfortably , Mola crept up to second overall , bumping Varga down to third overall .
Even as the fatigue settled in , the athletes began to acclimate to the heat . The post-race ice baths in a blow-up kiddie pool as well as physiotherapy sessions and massages also helped them with recovery . So on the final day the island itself threw in another challenge : the weather turned stormy . Three hours before race start , the roads were running two inches deep in rainwater .
In consultation with the athletes , the third day ’ s race would continue , albeit with an adjusted bike course shorter by one loop . Race director Shane Smith said during the pre-race briefing , “ I appreciate the fact that you are the best athletes in the world and can adjust to the conditions . As race directors and technical officials we ’ re here to protect you and keep you safe .” He then detailed a contingency aquathlon plan if the roads became too slippery to ride on .
That plan was never put into play as the skies cleared to allow the three-stage Eliminator format to proceed . While each stage
was swim-bike-run , only the top 15 finishers of the first stage would go on to the next , and only the 10 fastest from that stage would battle for the day ’ s win .
The casualties of elimination included long-course champions Terenzo Bozzone of New Zealand and Brent McMahon of Canada . McMahon believed he could have at least gotten to the second stage had he not been in a pile-up with Shaw , who logged both of the weekend ’ s bike crashes ( see sidebar ). “ You hope guys can keep the rubber side down and we talked about it in the race briefing and just be safe , and some people don ’ t listen and it kind of wrecks it for other people ,” said McMahon .
Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway topped the first two stages . ITU stars Bailie , Birtwhistle , Murray and countryman Henri Schoeman , Mola , Gomez , Varga , Ryan Fisher of Australia , and Igor Polyanskiy of Russia made up the rest of the final field .
For an upset in the overall order , Mola would need to win and Murray finish lower than seventh , but Birtwhistle threw a spanner in the works . Murray put on his signature surge on the run , but Mola and Birtwhistle stayed with him . Then Mola took the lead , and Murray faded . But Birtwhistle put the afterburners on and sprinted away from them both on the final lap to top the last race and put himself in third place overall . Mola retained second overall position , while Murray hoisted the bronze champion ’ s trophy and took home the winner ’ s cheque .
Super League Hamilton Island was an event that upended assumptions , with Gomez finishing sixth overall and Brownlee dropping out ill after the second day . It surfaced a new champion from among the champions ’ ranks in Murray , displayed the tremendous potential in young Birtwhistle , and created opportunities for fans to discover and cheer on triathlon ’ s quirky characters and big personalities . That ’ s sport . That ’ s entertainment . And with races in the upcoming series that will feature the world ’ s top men and women athletes , that ’ s only the beginning .
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