Noosa triathlon: Ashleigh Gentle, Hayden Wilde win 2023 races
Ashleigh Gentle has underlined her status as a giant of the Noosa Triathlon by storming to victory for the ninth consecutive year.
Ash Gentle has won an incredible 10th Noosa Triathlon title in an emotional 40th anniversary of the famous race.
Gentle crossed the line to snare a ninth consecutive title to underline her status as the most successful athlete in the history of the event.
Coming down the finishing chute, Gentle grabbed the winner’s tape and hugged it before raising it above her head in a victory salute.
“It was pretty surreal and a big weight off my shoulders. It was more the relief,” Gentle said of the emotion she displayed.
“I did feel quite calm but there was a huge build-up and on the 40th anniversary, happening to coincide with going for my 10th win, it added another layer of emotional fatigue during the week.
“To be able to get a good race under my belt and get that victory was just relief.
“Each year has just been really enjoyable and I’ve had fun but what else can I do really?
“I’m really proud that each year, no matter what happens, I kind of find a way to get the best out of myself at Noosa.”
Gentle now has more wins than any of the famous names that adorn the Noosa honour role, including men’s six-time winner and her one-time coach Craig Walton, and double the number of childhood hero and Beijing Olympic gold medallist Emma Snowsill.
The 32-year-old, who was No. 1 on the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) rankings for much of 2023 before finishing the year in the No. 2 spot, now specialises in middle-distance racing, although her incredible domination at Noosa and success on the world circuit mask the relative weakness of Australia’s women at the World Triathlon Championship level.
While Australia already has one man qualified for the Paris Olympics, in No. 5-ranked Matt Hauser, who finished second at Noosa on Sunday behind New Zealand’s world No. 2 Hayden Wilde, Australia’s highest-ranked woman in contention for a Games spot is Natalie Van Coevorden, who finished the year at No. 28 on the WTCS rankings and has a world ranking of No. 33.
However, the next generation has some emerging talents and Gentle praised the third placegetter on Sunday, Richelle Hill.
“I don’t underestimate those girls, they are really quick over 10km, and Richelle Hill is a great new talent for Australia,” Gentle said.
“I knew she was a good runner, so I made sure I hit my stride really early on and tried to break the elastic band pretty quickly and just to try and extend that lead as much as I could over the 10km,”.
In the final leg of Sunday’s race, Gentle finished with the fastest run split to ensure a win in 1hr 55min 13sec, more than a minute-and-a-half ahead of Sophie Malowiecki (1:56.49).
Hill was third (1:57.14), fewer than 30 seconds further back.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Wilde, who raced Noosa for the first time, won in a course record 1:41.56, 13 seconds ahead of Gold Coaster Hauser and South Africa’s Rio Olympic medallist Henri Schoeman (1:44.20). Two-time winner, Tasmania’s Jake Birtwhistle, was fourth.
“To get a course record was truly epic,” Wilde said.
“I couldn’t have done it without the boys out there today. “They really pushed me and I just did what I needed to do.”
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