It was Bronze again for the Aussies in the Mixed Relay in another strong Australian performance as the sun came out in Sutton Park on the first Sunday afternoon of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Yee again set the tone with a blistering run to put hosts England ahead of the field early on, with Sophie Coldwell, Samuel Dickonson and Georgia Taylor-Brown holding the lead throughout and Taylor-Brown extending the gap to enjoy a memorable win in front of the packed-home-crowd, finishing in 01:16:40.
At the final leg, with the podium undecided, it was Wales, Australia and New Zealand in the battle, culminating in a tight contest between Sophie Linn (AUS) and Non Stanford (WAL) over the final 2km, Linn managed to out-sprint Stanford by two seconds in the individual race on Friday, but it was Stanford who found the extra gear to power home for Wales to claim Silver in the final metres.
Linn emptied the tank to bring it home for third and another bronze for Australia, after Jake Birtwhistle, Natalie Van Coevorden and Matthew Hauser had all combined to put her right in the medal mix.
Australia’s Bronze medallist from Friday’s Individual Men’s Triathlon, Hauser said the Australian team played to their strengths to secure the Bronze.
“Jake had an epic run to try and keep up with Alex Yee, as one of the best runners in the game, so he kicked it off really well, I knew I could use my swim to the advantage to close any gaps if need be, but the girls were super strong. Nat on the swim bike, holding onto the run and Sophie finishing it off so strong,” said Hauser.
“We really played to our strengths out there today and ran a tactically well-race.”
Jake Birtwhistle now with a full set of Commonwealth Games medals across 2018 and 2022 campaigns said he ‘couldn’t be more proud of the team today to be up there on the podium’.
The Mixed Relay Bronze followed the Australian Para Triathlon Minor Medals in the Men’s PTVI and Commonwealth Games PTVI Debut, with Silver and Bronze for Sam Harding and Jonathan Goerlach.
