For the second consecutive year, Australian Michelle Mitchell has taken the women’s event of the Bali International Triathlon held at Jimbaran beach, Bali, on Sunday.
In the fourth year of the annual competition, Mitchell cut 10 minutes off her previous result, crossing the finish line in 02:29:45.
“This competition is fun, I’m really happy to win again,” the amateur athlete said, adding that she was relieved to be able to get through the hill stages and improve her time.
“The hills were tough. But when I got through it, it was really nice.”
Mitchell credited her coach for the win, saying she hadn’t made special preparations for the event. “My coach has been doing a fabulous work for me, so I’m just doing what he tells me to do.”
In second place was Australian Natalie Lawrendeau with 02:36:26, followed by Rachel Smith also from Australia with 02:38:09.
In the male category, Jens Wilken from Germany finished first with 02:27:22, followed by Australian Bryce Fernley with 02:33:04 and Australian Hamilton Stephen with 02:33:36.
Wilken said he started making preparations in April. “It was pretty difficult. The bike course is very technical, with hilly roads and many sharp turns.
But the run course was flat and nice,” the 32-year-old told The Jakarta Post after the race.
In the team category, the Bali Trailblazers Team 1 — comprising Yohannes Seran as the runner, Mark Fitzsimmons as the swimmer and Ketut Panca as the cyclist- came out on top in 02:17:48.
Some 300 participants from 15 countries took part in this year’s race, which kicked off with 1.5-kilometer swim, followed by a 40-kilometer bike ride around the bukit peninsula, capped with a 10-kilometer run.
To attract more participants, the organizer this year offered a new category of sprint distance race comprising 500-meter swim, 20 kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run.
The sprint distance athletes began in a separate wave 30 minutes before the start of the Olympic distance race.
In the sprint category, Evan Gallagher from Australia was the male finisher with 01:11:13 and her couple Nicolle Gallagher being the fastest female racer with 01:21:17.
Twenty-one-year-old Kadri Rogar from Lombok finished best of the Indonesian participants in the Olympic category, crossing the finish line in 02:38:46.
In the fourth year of the annual competition, Mitchell cut 10 minutes off her previous result.
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