Cameron Wurf shocked at how triathlon has moved on

“That’s the best performance I’ve ever had here and I wasn’t anywhere near it,” was the candid assessment of Australian Cameron Wurf after his 8hr-flat showing on the Big Island was only enough for 11th place.

“I rocked up here and wasn’t expecting that,” he continued, having seen the course record lowered by 11mins to 7:40:24 by Gustav Iden, three debutants fill the podium, and 10 men finish in under 8hrs.

To rub it in further, Wurf also saw 5mins chopped off his own bike course record as France’s eventual runner-up Sam Laidlow delivered a 4:04:36 split for the 180K.

The 39-year-old was full of praise for Laidlow, who was 16 years his junior and also ran 11mins faster than he had when finishing eighth in the world champs in St George in May.

“I love it that you can come to this race and make a name for yourself and he did it at another level,” Wurf added. “The sport has moved on.”

Wurf had made his own big impression on the Big Island in 2017, when – like Laidlow – he’d been first into T2 on debut. Wurf also set a new bike course record that he went on to better in 2018. While outgunned by Laidlow, his 2022 bike split was 2secs under the existing record.

I just need to go away and it’s pretty simple what I’ve got to do… a bit more triathlon training, or a bit more swimming at least

The Tasmanian comes from a varied multisport background, competing as a rower in the 2004 Athens Olympics before moving to professional cycling and then to triathlon in 2016.

He switched back to cycling in 2020 when signing for Ineos and has since competed in triathlon intermittently depending on his pro tour commitments.

“When I went back to cycling the sport had moved on and I had to adapt,” he said. “I haven’t raced many triathlons the last few years due to the circumstances with Covid and racing on the bike.

“I wanted to have a better swim today, but hats off to everyone who finished in front of me. I just need to go away and it’s pretty simple what I’ve got to do … a bit more triathlon training, or a bit more swimming at least.

“But I’m really happy to get through it the best I could with what I had today and that’s all you can ask for on the biggest stage.

“Having got off to a bad start, I didn’t throw my toys out of the pram and just chuck it in.

“I gave it everything I had for the whole day and hats off to everyone who finished in front of me and all the guys competing.”

Top image credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images for Ironman