Caleb Noble and Richelle Hill have won the men’s and women’s titles at the Mooloolaba Triathlon, with Noble taking a dramatic photo-finish victory while Hill stamped her authority on the race.
Noble claimed the men’s win in the most dramatic of fashions, edging out Charlie Quin in a photo-finish.
The pair were side-by-side throughout much of the 10km run leg and entered the finish chute together, with Noble making a dive for the line to win by the barest of margins.
Both Noble and Quin crossed the line in 1:45:53, with Kurt McDonald rounding out the podium a minute and a half further behind.
“It was pretty cool, I remember just coming home the last two kilometres with Charlie, he’s one of my good mates,” Noble said.
“We had a few surges and stuff like that, I finished second last year so it went right down to the wire and I had to push and do the big dive at the end so I was stoked to get the win.
“I took it out hard on the run and once Charlie caught me I sat behind him in the headwind to save a bit of energy but it was probably the last k I sort of really had to believe and had about three or four surges and then the dive at the end,” he said.
Noble was at the front of the field all morning, leading out of the water and pushing ahead on the bike. The Sunshine Coast-based athlete took a slender lead onto the run, with himself and Quin pushing hard the whole way to the line.
“I was really happy with my swim, I took off solid and then had a gap out of the water and then on the bike it was really windy, I’ve never really ridden in winds like that before so I sort of had to save energy and I held the front, came into T2 with a bit of a lead and then took off on the run,” said Noble. “I had to hold my pace and I really had to dig deep at the end and I’m so happy to get the win.”
Richelle Hill won the women’s race in 1:56:51, four minutes ahead of defending champion Lotte Wilms, with Emily Donker third.
“I feel ecstatic, I’ve had a few races recently where I made a few silly mistakes and I’ve just been so eager to put together a really good race, I’m really happy with that,” said Hill.
“A result like this means everything, it gives me confidence to go forward in the sport and progress and learn more, it’s a great atmosphere, I felt so good out there, everyone was cheering and it was great.”
Hill came out of the water alongside Wilms, with the two out front on the 40km bike leg, with Hill surging late to open up a minute lead heading onto the run. From there she didn’t look back, extending her lead the whole way to the finish line.
“I had a really good swim, I got on Lotte and I felt comfortable and I was comfortable with that, got out of the swim with fresh legs which leading up to this race I wasn’t sure, they kind of felt a little bit dead so I was hoping that I could just get into that race atmosphere and just feel good which I did,” said Hill. “I ran into that first transition, grabbed my bike and I was out there, I got into a really good rhythm on the bike, it was tough into the headwind on the way back but it played out really well and I felt comfortable on the run.”
Sunday’s Standard Distance Triathlon featured a mix of experienced campaigners and newcomers to the sport, with around 3500 athletes out on course together, with almost half of those racing for the first time.
The 2024 Mooloolaba Triathlon was the 32nd running of the iconic Sunshine Coast event, with over 5000 athletes racing over the two days.
For more on the Mooloolaba Triathlon visit mooloolabatri.com.au/
The Mooloolaba Triathlon is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
