MOOLOOLABA, AUSTRALIA – Richard Murray is in a confident mood following his second international triathlon victory of the year in Mooloolaba, Australia, and is looking forward to next month’s Commonwealth Games.
The event was held less than 200km north of Gold Coast where Murray and Schoeman will be joined by fellow SA triathletes Wian Sullwald, Gillian Sanders and Simone Ackermann at the Games.
Speaking to Team SA, Murray (who won the Cape Town World Cup last month) said: “I’ve got two World Cups this year already, which is pretty cool. The last few years I’ve managed one in Cape Town and one in New Plymouth so now that’s my World Cups done for this season.”
Murray was timed at 53min 09sec for the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run, which put him four seconds clear of the host nation’s Matt Hauser.
“After my crash in Abu Dhabi, it was quite a challenge to get over from my sore shoulder. Now I’m in Wanaka near Queensland on the South Island of New Zealand and ready for a massive block of training before heading over to Australia at the end of the month.”
Post Commonwealth Games, Murray will fly west to the Netherlands city of Sittard. “I’ve got a short training camp with the Dutch triathlon team and my new Dutch coaches as I already target the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.”
The only other South African in Mooloolaba action was Aussie-based Anel Radford. She clocked 62:19 for 18th spot as Australia’s Emma Jeffcoat won in 59:35.