Just six months after retiring from professional cycling, Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Emma Pooley claimed gold at long-distance triathlon Challenge Philippines last weekend despite some hot and challenging conditions.
Just thought you should know @PooleyEmma is still kicking ass on a bike. With that swim & run stuff on either side. pic.twitter.com/SNAwj21vZV
— Kathryn Bertine (@KathrynBertine) February 21, 2015
Pooley, 32, placed third at the same event last year, but this time managed to take victory by a margin of more than 10mins over nearest rival Kelly Williamson (USA). Britain’s Parys Edwards rounded out the podium with third place.
“It was tough but honest course and beautiful,” said Pooley afterwards. “I came back to try and win and I really had a good day!” The former world champion time triallist took 32:50mins to cover the 1.9km swim, then proceeded to smash the challenging 90km bike course with a split of 2:40:38.
She arrived in T2 comfortably with a 7:38mins lead over her compatriot Edwards, and completed the 21.1km run in 1:25hrs to cross the line for a convincing win. Edwards was overhauled by Williamson on the run and crossed the line just a minute behind her.
In the men’s race, Italy’s Domenico Passuello – also a former pro cyclist turned triathlete – took the title with a time of 4:04:22, finishing around 5mins ahead of Danish athlete Rasmus Petraeus after catching him on the bike. Third place was taken by Mitch Robbins (AUS).
For the full results head here.
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