Olympic Gold Medallist Snowsill Wins Inaugural Dextro Energy Triathlon

Australia's Emma Snowsill tops the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series rankings tonight after crossing the line in 2:02:42 at race one in Tongyeong, Korea.

The Beijing Olympic Games gold medallist placed strongly throughout the swim and bike before overtaking compatriot Emma Moffatt late on the 10km run to win by ten seconds.

Beijing bronze medallist Moffatt held on for an excellent second with last weekend's Ishigaki ITU Triathlon World Cup winner, Juri Ide from Japan, finishing third as she out-sprinted Canada's Kathy Tremblay and Kirsten Sweetland for the final podium position in the $150,000 prize money race.

Winning is nothing new for Snowsill who has amassed three World Championship titles and a Commonwealth Games gold alongside her Beijing Olympic Games success, however she endured an injury stricken start to the year having broken a rib whilst surfboarding in native Australia.

"It's been a long time since I raced and there's something about racing that you just can't get in training," she said. "I was really pushed today and Emma is a training partner of mine. It was really tough but it allowed me to see where I am at in terms of fitness."

"This was the first one in the series and so the attention is going to build as we progress through to the next races. There's more prize money, more sponsors, live TV and that's not happening in a lot of sports, so it is fortunate to be happening to us."

The 1500m swim was led out by American super-swimmer Sara McLarty with Moffatt on her heels. The two established an early lead on the 40km cycle but were caught by the charging chase packs led by Switzerland's Daniela Ryf and Samantha Warriner from New Zealand. Warriner hit the deck following a crash on the penultimate lap of the bike, but was able to remount and ride back up to the leaders. Once on the run Moffatt opened up an early advantage but was caught by Snowsill on the second of the four 2.5km laps. The two Aussies battled each other before Snowsill pulled away in the final kilometre to take the win.

Moffatt was pleased with her second place finish having been to the fore throughout all three disciplines, including strong starts on the bike and run that took her away from the field.

"Everything went to plan for me and I felt really good out there. I always like to go out and try as hard as I can within reason, but I saved myself for the run on the bike and that was tactical," she said. "I knew Emma was there. It felt like a Sunday morning training run. It is always good to have an aim and she is definitely the mark in the sport at the moment."

Ide was delighted to finish with back to back top three finishes, but has high aspirations for the rest of the year.

"I am happy with today but next time I hope to get the championship trophy," she said. "I train hard but many people give me love, which is better."

Tongyeong Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship

1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run

Elite Women - Official Results