As Bunbury triathlete Ryan Bailie continues his push towards the 2016 Olympics, he enjoyed his final pre-Rio hit out with a World Triathlon Series race in Hamburg, Germany. After the race, he took to his website to update his fans on his progress.
The build up to Rio continued with possibly one of the best stops on the WTS series and I was good enough on the day to finish fifth on Saturday, which has moved me up to sixth in the series.
In the end I ran out of legs to have the kick to fight for the last podium spot, being dropped with 500 metres to go. That elusive WTS podium still awaits.
The start of the race put me in a position where I was in contention, being top 10 out of the water.
With the streets of Hamburg resembling a slippery ice rink on the bike, being cautious was at the forefront of my mind. As the bike twisted and turned through the streets with rain falling deeper, into the bike we went. To come away unscathed and with a solid hit out was a box ticked on the final push towards Rio.
More important that the outcome was being able to deliver key processes under fatigue which is important for me to execute to have success.
Hamburg also hosted the World Mixed Relay Championships on the Sunday where I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to wear the green and gold to anchor the Australian team. Charlotte McShane was our lead, Jake Birtwhistle took on second and Emma Jackson passed all the team’s good work to me. The USA were well up the road leaving me to fight with six other nations for the final two podium spots.
With a short 300 metre swim, I did little to split the six of us. The bike also did little to break any of the group up with the cat and mouse games began. I was confident in my ability to deliver if it came down to a sprint as, over the years, I have been working with Paul Hallam on key drills each week.
The pace was on and off and lifted with 500 metres to go. I sat and waited for the blue carpet and when a slight gap opened up against the barriers, I took my chance. It paid off and we secured the silver medal.
Now it’s back to Vitoria-Gasteiz to finish off the last push to Rio. The build up has been challenging as you would expect though I’m very lucky to have a supportive network in my corner who are always there when needed.
