Multisport Magazine Issue 25 | Page 9

FEATURE STORY A N E W B E G I N N I N G BY NOELLE DE GUZMAN T he afternoon air was thick with humidity and anticipation as 24 athletes took their pontoon positions. They crouched, muscles taut waiting for the air horn to sound, their signal to start. Then off they dove into the azure waters of the marina, rounding the buoys to emerge out of the 300-metre swim in only a little more than three minutes. They hopped on their bicycles and pedalled up the steep incline out of transition to loop through the hilly one-kilometre cycle course six times, then jumped off to run a flat and fast two kilometres to the finish. But that was only the first race of three for the day, and it was only the first day of three for the overall win. This was no mere triathlon in the middle of nowhere wit h nobodies on the start list and pennies for payout. These were the 24 best in the world including dual Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee, five-time ITU world champion Javier Gomez, and current ITU world champion Mario Mola, gathered on tropical and luxurious Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays for three days of short, hard, and fast racing for the top prize of AUD $100,000, the richest purse in triathlon. Around the world, millions of sports fans tuned in to simultaneous live coverage on television and streaming internet, bringing the action right into their homes. It was a first for the sport on many fronts. This is Super League Triathlon, and this was Day 1 of their showcase event put together with only six months of lead time after the Olympics in Rio. Super League Hamilton Island was timed to capitalize on the interest in triathlon, revitalize the sport, and reach general audiences -- through the sport entertainment approach: television-friendly and unique formats, a viewing experience that put cameras and commentary amongst the action, and most importantly featuring the athletes as stars in their own right. While some triathlon diehard fans had made their way onto Hamilton Island to watch the racing, holidaymakers who had booked their stay months in advance had no idea they would be sharing the island with world champions and Olympic medallists. The non-stop near-breathless action drew all out onto the streets to spectate, despite the sticky 30-plus degree temperatures. By the final day, people were lining the main street three deep even after a tropical thunderstorm drenched the island. The first day of racing featured a format called the Triple Mix: the first stage of three involved swim-bike-run, second stage run-bike-swim, and third stage bike-swim-run. Athletes stood a chance to shave their overall time with five seconds off awarded to stage winners and prime winners for the Stage 1 swim, Stage 2 run, and Stage 3 bike. With distances as short as these, every second would matter. While Brownlee had confidently declared upon arrival on the island, “I think people will make the championship moves on the third day,” and that athletes would conserve energy during the first two days, the racing was anything but conservative. 2015 U23 world champion Jake Birtwhistle of Australia won Stage 1 pushing on the run, while super-swimmer Richard Varga of Slovakia claimed the swim prime. Varga then took Stage 2, which played to his strength in the water, while Birtwhistle won the run prime. It was in Stage 3 that Richard Murray of South Africa opened up the throttle and surged through to a win, lapping a struggling Brownlee. Andrea Salvisberg of Switzerland took the bike prime. When the dust cleared, Murray’s overall time was still 12 seconds faster than Varga’s despite an accumulated 10-second time bonus. Ryan Bailie of Australia rounded off the overall podium on the first day. From here on it would be a race to accumulate points based on finish position over the next two days. The overall podium would go to the three athletes with the most points. MULTISPORT MAGAZINE | 9