Triathlon: Kiwis on the podium in Noosa

Kris Gemmell placed second at the Noosa triathlon on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealanders Kris Gemmell and Nicky Samuels both had podium finishes at the Noosa triathlon on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland today.

Gemmell was second to Australian Courtney Atkinson, who won the men's race for the third successive year.

The New Zealander was the only one able to go with the race favourite over the 10km run leg but Atkinson's pace over the first 2km of the run proved decisive as he opened a gap of 25 seconds that Gemmell could not peg back in the closing stages.

Gemmell was delighted with his second-placed finish and form, however, especially in light of a horror end to the season when he crashed out of the world championships finale in Budapest, Hungary.

"This feels great though to race as well as I have today, the past seven weeks have not been great after the crash at Budapest and I have been training with some Ironman guys and doing some big mileage so I was a little surprised at how well I went today," Gemmell said.

"I just didn't have the leg speed and couldn't stay with Atko (Atkinson) over that first couple of kilometres but I felt strong all day."

Samuels was equally pleased with her third-placing in the women's event.

She finished behind winner Caroline Steffen, of Switzerland, who raced just weeks after finishing second at the Hawaii Ironman, and young Australian Ashleigh Gentle.

Samuels said Noosa was a "start" to her new season after taking a break and beginning training again in earnest after Budapest.

"I took a break after Budapest and have since been back into some hard work so didn't quite have the sharpness I might usually have today," she said.

"The bike took a little more out of me than I would have liked and I paid for that a little on the run but I'm happy to be on the podium for sure and this is a great place to come and race."

Elite men: Courtney Atkinson (Australia) 1hr 46min 54sec 1, KRIS GEMMELL (NEW ZEALAND) 1:47:06 2, Peter Kerr (Australia) 1:48:10 3. Also: MICHAEL POOLE (NEW ZEALAND) 1:51:32 14.

Elite women: Caroline Steffen (Switzerland) 2:01:18 1, Ashleigh Gentle (Australia) 2:01:22 2, NICKY SAMUELS (NEW ZEALAND) 2:03:30 3.



- NZPA