Gillian Backhouse has absorbed the “overwhelming” experience of competing in her first Commonwealth Games triathlon and regards her ninth-place performance as the ideal springboard to greater success.
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The Armidale 26-year-old was the second Australian across the line, after Ashleigh Gentle, at Southport on Thursday morning. Backhouse said she performed at her optimum but could have finished higher had the race panned out differently.
She finished 2min 04sec behind race winner Flora Duffy of Bermuda, with England’s Jessica Learmonth and Canada’s Joanna Brown second and third.
Backhouse said: “Given the way the race panned out today, I’m really happy with it. I really couldn't have asked any more of myself. I'm happy, and it’s a good first major-games performance for me.”
The former under-23 duathlon world champion was third out of the water behind Learmonth, Duffy and England’s Sophie Coldwell.
“I had a great swim but there was no one else to work with me on the bike,” she said. “So Sophie and I were caught by the back behind us.”
Backhouse clocked 9:34 for the 750 metre swim, 30:25 for the 20km bike leg and 17:52 for the run, for a total time over the sprint distance of 58:54.
She said she was “really looking forward” to building on the performance, “hopefully in future Games”
“I went into the race and the whole Games experience as yes, wanting to do well and get the best out of myself, but also [viewing it] as a huge opportunity to find out what it’s all about,” she said.
