Southland triathlete Aaron Barclay produced a wire-to-wire performance to win gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore today.
Barclay from Riversdale in Southland dominated to be first on to the bike and the run before clearing out from American Kevin McDowell to win in 54:41 in a superb performance.
The 17 year old becomes the first New Zealander to win a medal at the first Youth Olympic Games.
“It is pretty incredible. I am very proud to do this for New Zealand because I really love my country,” Barclay said.
He said his front-running tactics were a key.
“I was trying not to give the other guys an inch. They were all unknown to me before the race so I had to be aggressive.”
He was first off the bike but by the halfway mark on the 5km run he had been caught by McDowell as the pair cleared out from the front pack of nine. However the Kiwi put the pressure on with the American falling off the pace in the final kilometre.
The day was special winning the gold in front of Athens Olympic champion Hamish Carter and more specially his parents and grandparents.
“It is really awesome to race well for them because they have come a long way.. I wouldn’t be here right now without them. It’s awesome to give a little bit back to them too.”
Barclay will recover tomorrow before competing in the mixed event with teammate Maddie Dillon on Thursday.
