Australian triathlete Luke Willian has boosted his Paris Olympics hopes by winning the World Cup round in Wollongong.
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It's his first World Cup round victory in five years and, while the result does not guarantee him selection for the Games, Willian has gained plenty of confidence from the performance.
The 27-year-old Brisbane native won the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run event in 52 minutes 52 seconds, easily beating South African Jamie Riddle, with Diego Moya of Chile third.
Ellie Hoitink was the best-placed Australian in the women's race in seventh, as Swede Tilda Mansson won ahead of Colombia's Maria Velasquez Soto and Ainsley Thorpe from New Zealand.
Matt Hauser, who withdrew from Saturday's Wollongong race because of food poisoning, is the only confirmed Australian selection for the Paris triathlon team.
The last chance for an Australian to gain automatic selection will be a top-eight finish at the May 11-12 round of the world series in Yokohama, Japan, with the rest of the team then up to selectors' discretion.
So far, Australia will have two men and two women competing in the individual and mixed relay triathlons at the Paris Games.
Willian, who raced at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, is determined to join Hauser in the Paris team after missing selection for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
"Especially after missing out in 2021, that's been the goal of the last three years," Willian said.
"To get back and try and put myself in contention for that spot, and today doing it on home soil puts me in good stead."
Willian said a big, noisy crowd spurred him.
"The weather's not the best today, but everyone came out and cheered," he said.
"I couldn't hear my footsteps at some stages because the crowd was so loud, I had no idea where anyone else was.
"It wasn't until I could do the (run) U-turn that I really had a good idea."
Australian Associated Press
