Matt Bevilacqua, Courtney Hancock score wins in Nutri-Grain ironman at Surfers Paradise
IRONWOMAN Courtney Hancock captured her first round win of the series she used to rule as Matt Bevilacqua staged a late charge for his first ever Nutri-Grain ironman crown.
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IRONWOMAN Courtney Hancock captured her first round win of a series she used to rule as Matt Bevilacqua staged a late charge for his first ever Nutri-Grain ironman crown on a day of wipeouts and big upsets at Surfers Paradise on Sunday.
Harriet Brown and Ali Day topped the series pointscores going into the eliminator racing but neither even made it onto the podium as six foot messy seas smashed competitors in both the women’s and men’s races.
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Former series champions Jordan Mercer and Shannon Eckstein were also big-name casualties with neither making it through to their respective finals.
But nothing was going to stand between Coolangatta Gold champion Hancock and her first win on Sunday - even toppling off her ski in the first race of the day.
Hancock said she laid down the law to herself in the morning and by the afternoon had her first win of the 2017/18 ironwoman series under her belt.
“I said to myself, second isn’t good enough today, only winning is good enough,” said the former three-time Nutri-Grain champion who won her first ever round of the series on the same beach almost a decade ago.
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“I thought to myself, if I can win this as a youngster I should be able to do it as a 29-year-old.
“I just went out there with hunger and determination.
“I think it (the ski mishap) spiked a little anger in me. I was frustrated with myself and I knew I had to be really smart after that.”
As Hancock beat two-time round winner Brielle Cooper from Noosa and Manly’s Naomi Scott for the win, Gold Coast based Tasmanian Bevilacqua also rose to the occasion in the torrid conditions for his second round win of the series.
“That was insane, I’m still pretty wired,” he said. “You really had to put the skills on the line today.
“The series was in the back of my mind but there were lots of times I was in last position and had to fight back so I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.”
It was Bevilacqua’s third round win in four years with his best overall finish in the Nutri-Grain series a third two years ago.
He now has the chance to claim a maiden crown at the finale of the series at Cronulla on February 25 where he goes in sitting behind Day on the overall pointscore but ahead of James Lacy and former series champion Matt Poole.
Despite a seventh on Sunday, Brown has held onto her overall lead with Cooper second and Hancock moving up into third.