Silver overall for Ash Gentle in ITU World Triathlon Series

A sixth placed finish at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Rotterdam resulted in a silver medal overall for Ashleigh Gentle.

The NSWIS Scholarship Holder and triathon athlete, under the guidance of coach Jamie Turner, took second place in a wet & windy Rotterdam which made for tricky conditions, slippery underfoot.

Gentle’s sixth place finish saw her become only the second Australian woman since the WTS replaced the one-off World Championship in 2009 to make it onto the podium – finishing second overall to today’s race winner Flora Duffy from Bermuda.

Somewhat disillusioned after a disappointing Olympic debut, the 26-year-old from the Gold Coast knew she had to make changes.

And the move to join Turner, the man who guided the USA’s Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen to her greatest triumph in the shadows of Christ The Redeemer on Copacabana Beach last year, has reaped immediate dividends.

After a break out year, which included her first ever WTS victory and a World Teams Relay gold medal, Gentle came into this week’s ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in second place on the WTS rankings behind the unstoppable Bermudan.

Gentle even surprised herself.

“If you asked me at the start of the year that I would finish second in the world at the end I certainly wouldn’t have thought it was possible” said Gentle.

“I’m really happy with the end result. Every race has been different but they’ve been challenging.

“Obviously Montreal (where I won) was the stand out and it was also the one that I didn’t think was going to be the best (because I felt so sick).

“In all the races, I’ve just tried to fight to the end to get the best result possible.