Antipodean triathletes dominated the podium at the MetaMan iron-distance triathlon on the tropical Indonesian island of Bintan last weekend, with Aussie veteran Courtney Ogden winning the men's race by over ten minutes.
It was fellow countryman Courtney Atkinson who led for much of the race however, taking a four-minute lead out of T1 and riding the entire 180km of the bike leg on his own, before falling victim to the heat and humidity for a DNF.
This left the door open for Ogden, who used his iron-distance experience to maintain a steady pace and wrap up the win with a time of 8:31:27, followed at a distance by Tim Berkel (AUS) and Freddie Croneberg (SWE).
“That was a tough course, and obviously the heat and humidity makes it extra tough,” said Ogden. “But I’ve worked really hard the last six weeks to prepare for this, did all the right things.”
In the women's race, Switzerland's Caroline Steffen had an early battle with Gina Crawford (NZL) in the swim before powering away on the bike to notch up a 22-minute lead going into T2.
Steffen eased off slightly in the run to finish in 9:13:57, followed by Crawford and the defending women’s champion Candice Hammond (NZL).
"I really enjoyed the swim and the bike was absolutely perfect,” said Steffen after crossing the line. “The run was more like, just go through it, nothing too crazy and try to show control.”