Australia’s Gentle feeling better; looks to defend Montreal triathlon title

MONTREAL — Ashleigh Gentle is looking to repeat her performance at last year’s Montreal triathlon, minus the bout of laryngitis.

The Australian overcame a nasty sore throat to win the women’s ITU World Series event in 2017 and is back to defend her title on Saturday on the same course in Montreal’s Old Port district.

“The doctor said it wasn’t dangerous to start and I went with the attitude that I had nothing to lose,” Gentle said Thursday. “It was a massive turning point in my career. Mentally, I learned a lot from that race.”

Gentle isn’t among the favourites this year, having dropped to 13th in World Series standings despite a second-place finish last month in Edmonton, but she seems to like the Olympic distance course, which starts with a 1.5 kilometre swim in the St. Lawrence River followed by 40 kilometres of cycling and a 10-kilometre run along a pier and through the streets of Old Montreal.

The men run the same course on Sunday.

Stay Ahead of the Curve with Kamloops' Trusted Property Manager - Rohit Kumar

May 20, 2025

Looped In

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: July 3, 2025

Jul 03, 2025

ONE MAN'S OPINION

COLLINS: The true sign that summer is here

Jul 03, 2025

“I’m not the biggest favourite, I’m not vying for the world title, so most of the pressure will be on the top three,” said Gentle. “I’d like it to be like last year and come in with a better ranking, but it won’t deter me from giving my all.

“My experiences in Montreal have been incredible. The support from the crowd and everyone was great.”

The race for the women’s title is close, with leader Katie Zaferes of the United States looking to fend off Vicky Holland of Britain and Rachel Klamer of the Netherlands, but fourth-pace Kirsten Kasper should have the biggest cheering section.

The niece of former NHL player and coach Steve Kasper races for the U.S., but she was born in Ottawa and has relatives in the Montreal area.

Canadian women in the field include Joanna Brown of Ottawa and Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, Que., native Amelie Kretz.

On the men’s side, Spain’s Mario Mola has a commanding lead toward a third world title. With second-place Vincent Luis of France not competing, Mola cannot be overtaken and would need to finish out of the points to leave any chance for third-place Jacob Birtwhistle to catch him in the season-ending Gold Coast event in his native Australia next month.

Mola is coming off his third win of the season in Edmonton. Another contender is Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway, who was second in Montreal last year to Spaniard Javier Gomez Noya.

Tyler Mislawchuk of Winnipeg, who was fourth in Yokohama in May, is looking to improve on a 33rd-place finish a year ago.

Montreal got onto the international triathlon circuit with a lower-level event in 2016 and was promoted to the World series last year. In 2019, it will switch to sprint distances — a 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre cycle and five-kilometre run — and both the men’s and women’s races will be held on June 29.

It will also move to another area in the Old Port because the current spot is taken by a Cirque du Soleil tent at that time.

Event organizer Patrice Brunet said the move will accommodate Tokyo, which will hold an August test event next year ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

Montreal is hoping to land the sprint distance world championship in 2021.

Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press