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How do Super League triathletes celebrate after pushing themselves to the limit? Burgers, baths and champagne bashes, apparently. Express debriefed with the men’s overall winner, Olympian Jonny Brownlee, and the teen flying the flag for Jersey…
After blood, sweat and tears, bubbles flowed as the champions of the Super League Triathlon 2018 in Jersey were crowned.
Katie Zaferes retained her 2017 winning title, while France’s Vincent Luis pipped previous winner Kristian Blummenfelt, from Norway, to the top spot.
#IAMSUPERLEAGUE
— Super League Triathlon (@SuperLeagueTri) September 30, 2018
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What a race! Vincent Louis (FRA) does it again and wins the Men’s Enduro to make a perfect weekend pic.twitter.com/9dgGagUBlG
With gritted teeth, Blummenfelt pushed all the way through the final ‘Endurance’ round of the contest yesterday, but failed to make the top three finalists. The 2017 winner nonetheless grabbed a respectable third place behind South Africa’s Henri Schoeman.
Speaking to Express after the race, champion Luis said he enjoyed the race, but was now ready to kick back with a burger…
While Luis might have won the overall contest, the crowd’s hearts had already been taken by Olympic medal-winning Brit Jonny Brownlee.
He secured the biggest cheers along with Jerseyman Ollie Turner, but they weren’t quite enough of an energy spurt to thrust him into the unbreakable leading trio cluster in the final race.
Brownlee told Express he was disappointed with the result – mostly, he said, the result of mind not triumphing matter when he had a bike issue – but nonetheless promised a fitter performance next time round.
Pictured: Brownlee and Blummenfelt put in a concerted effort, but didn't make the top three in the final 'Enduro' race.
He thanked everyone for coming out, stating that it made him “proud” to race every time. Super League might have been conceived by Australians, but the Olympian explained that hearing the support of the British crowds – including his Jersey fans this weekend – made him convinced that “Britain really is the best sporting nation.”
Next on his agenda? A bath...
Those were the only bubbles he said he’d be enjoying this evening, with a 7:00 flight back to the UK to support a Brownlee Foundation triathlon with 2,000 children in the coming week.
While plenty of seasoned triathlon stars shone in the race, Super League also saw a number of spirited performances from younger athletes.
Aussie twins Jayden and Luke Schofield, who previously told Express they would work together fulfilled their promise: the pair were near constantly side-by-side in yesterday’s run.
They qualified to race in the rest of the Super League series alongside 19-year-old Jersey boy Ollie Turner, who also held his own against the top talent.
Pictured: Australian twins Jayden and Luke saw each other through to the next round, where they'll be accompanied by Jersey boy Ollie Turner.
He said he could do with brushing up on his swim, but it was still good enough to beat out the competition.
Next up is Malta next month – a welcome break from the colder temperatures that faced athletes this weekend.
But before that, Ollie said he was ready to party with the pros for one night. Before escaping, he debriefed with Express…
This weekend was the second edition of Super League to be hosted in Jersey following the inaugural race held last year.
The event is a weekend-long brutal twist on the usual triathlon, with an emphasis on crowd entertainment.
On Saturday athletes were pushed to their limits in the 'Triple Mix' contest, which sees the usual swim-bike-run format jumbled around and repeated three times over. Then on Sunday there's the hard-going 'Enduro' - three short bursts of swim-bike-run triathlon, and no breaks whatsoever, with the constant threat looming of being knocked out of each round if in the bottom two.
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