Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Not even a shiver of sharks could stop Matt Hauser cruising to a Noosa Triathlon title defence as the Olympic medal hope sharpened his focus for Los Angeles.
Last year’s world champion continued his fine 2026 season with victory on Sunday in a race that began with a 5km foot race on Hastings Street instead of the usual 1500m ocean swim.
Drones spotted multiple sharks 600m from shore early on Sunday morning, forcing organisers to scrap the swim leg for the first time since the race began in 1983.
John Reed, who finished third, did his best to blow up the race with an explosive 5km dash, but he was quickly reeled in on the 40km bike leg by Hauser (one hour, 39 minutes, 34 seconds) and fellow Paris Olympian Luke Willian (1:42:59).
Hauser was able to lap up the support on the 10km run home, high-fiving fans on the final 2km to the line.
Only crashes have cost him victory in Olympic-distance races since he won last year’s world title, and Hauser has his ears pinned back for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, where he’s targeting the country’s first men’s medal in the sport.
“You have to keep adapting to situations and changes, and we had to make of it what we could and the crowd got a kick out of it,” he said of the 45-minute notice of the race changes.
“It’s Noosa, you have to do the race justice and give it a crack.”
Hauser and Willian, eighth overall on the world tour this year, will finish their seasons in Abu Dhabi this month.
“One more race then put the feet up,” Hauser said.
“It’ll get bigger and better heading into LA. That’s why I wanted to come out and give it my best; it’s the perfect place to execute a good race plan.”
Fellow Paris Olympian Natalie Van Coevorden claimed the women’s title, surprising herself in what was her first race over the distance since the 2024 event.
Since then she’s dominated over the longer 70.3 distance, winning five times this year.
“Winning is an art; you have to learn how to win, and it’s given me the confidence to know when (to go),” she said.
“It shows I’m in my happy place and found something that suits me so well, and I just love the sport.”
Van Coevorden had finished on the podium twice behind 11-time champion Ash Gentle, who was in the crowd with her newborn baby this year.
“I’ve tried to be champion so many times and the iconic Ash Gentle’s always mowed me down,” she said.
Van Coevorden (1:58:11) finished 15 seconds ahead of Richelle Hill, breaking the former under-23 world champion midway through the run leg.
“When they said there would be no swim I thought my cards were marked, but I backed myself all day and with 6km to go backed myself a bit more and never looked back,” Van Coevorden said.
Hill collapsed after crossing the line for her fourth straight podium finish.
“She (Hill) is a phenomenal runner; to run with her was pretty cool, and then when I thought she was struggling a bit I put my foot down,” the victor said.
