A Pro Triathlete's Take on the Supertri Grand Final, Plus a Dominant Streak at the Noosa Triathlon

Tri Race Results: November 2-3, 2024

1. Supertri Neom
2. Noosa Triathlon

It was another Grand Final weekend – this time for Supertri, which headed to Saudi Arabia to round out its inaugural series. This weekend was also the iconic Noosa Triathlon in Australia, which saw Ashleigh Gentle take her 11th win.

Supertri Neom Results: Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee Take it All in Grand Final

For the third year, Supertri (formerly Super League Triathlon) headed to Neom in Saudi Arabia, a new city started in 2017 and hoping to be fully finished by 2039. As a region and city, it is keen to grow its cultural impact, and it sees sport as a big part of that. Since Super League Triathlon first came to Neom, they claim viewership of the sport has already tripled, and there has been a significant increase in participation in the sport, which Supertri aims to build on.

Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) has had a fantastic Supertri season, being dominant (a.k.a. winning) over the three events she’s raced. She needed fourth place or higher in Neom to take the series, and in a nail-biting finish, she secured that fourth place. GTB becomes the first athlete to win three Super League/Supertri Series titles.

Olympic Champion Cassandre Beaugrand won the individual race, taking her first Supertri win of the season to add to that Olympic gold medal and the World Triathlon Championship Series title. Both GTB and Beaugrand are part of the Crown Racing team, who have been leading the team event since the third race of the series.

On the men’s side, Alex Yee (GBR) took the win. Having won the first race of the series in Boston, he then struggled during the rest. However, he rallied to finish strong, winning the final race and once again beating Hayden Wilde (NZL) in a sprint finish. Wilde has beaten Yee before, of course, but never in a sprint finish – only when Yee is further back in the race heading into the run. In head-to-head matchups Yee is undefeated (for now). But though Wilde lost in the sprint-finish battles, he won the war – with his consistency and dominance over the series, the Kiwi took the Supertri overall series title and helped Crown Racing secure the team title.

Supertri, like other event organizers, has had its challenges, and while the format can be confusing (looking at you, short chute), they are creating an exciting condensed series of short-course racing at the end of the year. The World Triathlon Championship Series is the formal, Olympic-cycle format that lasts the year, but Supertri turns up as a party to close out the season. It’s still hard-and-fast racing, with a lot of money on the line: $80K for the individual winner of the Supertri series, $375K divided up amongst the winning team, and individual primes of $5K over the swim, bike, and run. The team element is particularly intriguing, and with the role of the team manager and tactics, it’s a unique experience for athletes and fans.

Supertri Neom 2024 Results:

Supertri has also launched many up-and-coming athletes, much like the Noosa Triathlon, located in Queensland, Australia . Noosa has been the proving ground for many of the Australian greats, including a big one who keeps proving herself. Read on for more:

Ashleigh Gentle Wins the Noosa Triathlon (Again), Plus a New Face From “the Other IronMan”

For the 10th year in a row – and for the 11th in total – Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) took the win at the Noosa Triathlon. Every year, new athletes take on the challenge, but every year, Gentle shows why she’s one of the top athletes in the sport today. She is The Queen of Noosa, and the fact that she returns every year is a testament to the event. Noosa is a hotspot for triathlon, with many of the world’s best athletes calling it home, and the Noosa Triathlon is one of the most prestigious Olympic-distance events in the world. Over its 41 years, it has grown to a five-day event with fun runs, kids’ races, ocean swims, celebrity relays, a pro cycling criterium, and more – all culminating on the Sunday with the Noosa Triathlon, a non-drafting triathlon for pros and age-groupers.

This year, Gentle made time to race in Noosa while preparing for the T100 Grand Final in Dubai in two weeks. She came into T2 with a lead, and it was clear no one would even come within striking distance over a 10-kilometer run. She handily controlled the race to take another win. Richelle Hill moved up from her third in 2023 to take second in 2024, and Natalie Van Coevorden finished third.

On the men’s side, it was 20-year-old Brayden Mercer (AUS) who won on debut. Mercer, who competes on the World Triathlon circuit, is also part of a famous family heritage of IronMan competitors – not the triathlon version, but the esteemed Australian surf lifeguarding competition. Brayden’s father became a professional Surf IronMan at just 15, and won the Australian Open Surf IronMan titles twice.

He unfortunately died of a heart attack in 2017 at just 47 years of age, when Brayden was just 13. Brayden’s mother was also a successful Surf IronWoman athlete. With the history of surf lifesaving in Australia, as well as the enormity of the Noosa Triathlon, For Brayden it was therefore an emotional win – and as Gentle said to him post race, he has “just 10 more to go!”

Noosa Triathlon 2024 Results