World Triathlon Cup 2024: Australia’s Luke Willian wins gold medal

Australia’s Luke Willian won the gold medal in the elite men’s event at the World Triathlon Cup 2024 held in Wollongong, Australia on Saturday.

Willian finished with an overall time of 52 minutes and 51 seconds to take the top spot. South Africa’s Jamie Riddle finished second after clocking 53 minutes and 14 seconds while Diego Moya of Chile finished fractions of a second behind Riddle to take third place.

Callum McClusky and Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Another Australian Bradley Course took eighth place while his compatriot Brandon Copeland finished 10th in Wollongong.

This is Willian’s first World Triathlon Cup round win in five years and the result has significantly boosted his hopes for the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, the result doesn’t guarantee selection for the Games.

The 27-year-old Luke Willian took part in the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast but missed selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“Especially after missing out in 2021, that’s been the goal of the last three years. To get back and try and put myself in contention for that (Olympic) spot, and today doing it on home soil puts me in good stead,” said Willian.

The only Australian who has been confirmed for Australia’s Paris 2024 Olympics triathlon team – Matt Hauser – did not take part in this event due to food poisoning. Another top contender – Great Britain’s Ben Dijkstra – was also out because of the same reason.

In the women’s elite event, Ellie Hoitnik secured the best finish among Australians after taking seventh place with a time of 1 hour and 52 seconds. The women’s event was won by Sweden’s Tilda Mansson, who clocked 1 hour and 39 seconds.

Australia will field two men and two women in the individual and mixed relay triathlons at the Paris Olympics.