Australia ITU triathletes racing Stockholm on the way to the World Championship round

Four members of Australia's World Championship Triathlon team will tune up for next month's ITU Grand Final in Edmonton with a final hit out in the WTS round in Stockholm this weekend.

Australia ITU triathletes racing Stockholm on the way to the World Championship round
Brendan Sexton in full flight at Chicago – Photo Credit: Delly Carr / ITU Media

Three men, Commonwealth Games representative Dan Wilson, London Olympian Brendan Sexton and Cameron Good will be joined in the women’s field by ITU World Under 23 champion Charlotte McShane.

The sprint distance round will feature some of the sport’s biggest names “including Commonwealth Games golden medallists “Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee, his Olympic bronze medal winning brother Jonathan Brownlee “and their British team mate Jodie Stimpson will take her place in the women’s field without world number one Gwen Jorgensen.

Defending men’s champion and Olympic silver medallist, Spain’s Javier Gomez, his team mate Mario Mola, South African Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, South African Richard Murray will also line up in a who’s who.

Wilson, disappointed with his 9th place finish in Glasgow, will be out to step up in Stockholm, says his preparations have been good for Stockholm.

“I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get the results I was after in Glasgow, but we got straight back into work after the Games, and I feel like I’m in good shape for Stockholm,” said Wilson.

“I’m hoping for a good result there, and then I jump straight on the plane to Canada to recover and finish off the ITU season with a big one in Edmonton.”

Sexton, back on the Australian team after an indifferent two years after London, is chomping at the bit to show his wares in Stockholm and Edmonton.

“Stockholm for me will be a big test. I’ve struggled on this course in the past so I’ve been focusing on preparing for the specifics in the lead up to this weekend,” said Sexton.

“Performances in competition this season have frustratingly not reflected my level of training so I’ll be looking to replicate this on Saturday, working at stringing together three well executed disciplines that will allow my result to take care of itself.

“Obviously I have the Series final in Canada in just over a week’s time and a solid performance here will definitely help push momentum towards a strong end of season finish.”

Cameron Good knows the Stockholm course will be testing.

“The build up has been good for me. I have had a month of solid training getting ready for the last two races. Both Stockholm and Edmonton have pretty tough courses with no real let up,” said Good.

“The Stockholm course is an honest one and doesn’t allow any hiding. It’s quiet technical with narrow sections and cobblestones which makes it even tougher. It’s going to be fast the whole way.”

McShane, who is growing in confidence in every WTS race, will have great Grand Final memories when she returns to Edmonton after her Under 23 world crown in London 12 months ago “but is not getting ahead of herself.

“l am treating Stockholm like any other WTS race and will do everything I can to get the best result possible for myself,” said McShane, who has been in Vitoria, wrapping up her preparations with Jamie Turner’s Wollongong Wizards group.

“Once I’ve crossed the finish line, my complete focus will be turning to recovering and preparing for Edmonton. I have a solid block of training behind me which should prepare me well for both this weekend and Edmonton.”

The World Triathlon Series will be staged in Stockholm for a third time this Saturday, with the Swedish capital again featuring a sprint course just one week ahead of the Edmonton Grand Final. As the last place to collect precious Threadneedle Ranking points, it will all be put on the line this weekend.