The story of European success at the Townsville World Multisport Championships as Maryna Kyryk (UKR) claimed Ukraine’s first elite gold medal of the event. On a beautiful, clear morning, Kyryk was simply too strong for her rivals in the women’s aquathlon.
“The sun was great,” she said at the finish. “I am very happy. I didn’t expect that before the race as it’s the first time I’ve done this format - run-swim-run - so before the race I really was excited and didn’t know what to expect, but I liked it. I did my best and I’m really happy I won.”
The aquathlon followed the run-swim-run format with a 1km sea swim sandwiched by 2.5km runs. In the opening run, Kyryk led the way. She clocked 8:21 to enter T1 first with Kelsey Mitchell (AUS) breathing down her neck. A superb transition saw Claire Spicknall (AUS) assume the lead as a front pack of five made the run down to the beach.
It was in the water that Kyryk dominated. She swam away from her fellow leaders and opened up a 20 second with her split of 12:58. Spicknall, still only a junior athlete, was the next fastest in 13:18. With her lead secured, it was a simple matter for Kyryk to produce a clean final run, which she duly did.
Further back, Mitchell had to recover from a slightly slower swim and had Spicknall in her sights. As the two Australians battled, Mitchell dropped a field-leading split of 8:42, some 3 seconds faster than Kyryk’s effort. However, it was ultimately not enough. Spicknall held on for a fantastic silver medal. After the race, Mitchell was then disqualified. She had received a penalty for putting on her swim cap before arriving in T1 and did not serve it before the end of the race. As a result, Klara Mooney (AUS) was promoted to 3rd place and received the bronze medal.
In addition to her senior silver medal, Spicknall became World Junior champion too. Later on, Isla Watson (AUS) won the World U23 title.
