Birtwhistle on top of the world

Triathlete Jake Birtwhistle claimed the biggest win of his career by winning gold at the ITU U23 Triathlon World Championships in the USA.

Becoming just the third Australian male to win the title after Brad Kahlefeldt and Aaron Royle, Birtwhistle crossed the line in 1:40:51 to defeat Spaniards David Castro Fajardo and Nan Oliveras for gold.

Birtwhistle made his move for the line with 1.5km to go, overcoming a grade one hamstring tear suffered in training last week to secure victory and a place in history.

“I didn’t want anything today but gold!” Birtwhistle said to Triathlon Australia after the win.

“I would not have been happy with anything else; I knew I could do it and I had to do everything in my control to make that happen and that’s what I did."

The event also saw world championship titles decided in the elite men, elite women and U23 women divisons, with NSWIS athletes also performing well in all events.

The elite men’s divisions saw Aaron Royle and Ryan Bailie finish seventh and 10th respectively, claiming ninth and sixth respectively in the overall ITU standings, while in the elite women’s Charlotte McShane placed 13th to finish at 15th on the oversall ITU standings. Natalie Van Coevorden finished seventh in the U23 women’s division at the championships.