TRIATHLON: World silver in New Mexico for Port Talbot’s Iwan Froley, with only his dad there to see it

A teenager from Port Talbot is coming home from New Mexico with a world championship silver medal.

Iwan Froley finished second in the Junior men’s race at the XTERRA Youth World Championship in Ruidoso on Sunday, in 1:21:08.

American Lucas Wright won in 1:18:42. Italy’s Pietro Bellemo was third in 1:22:13, 65 seconds behind Froley.

Iwan Froley’s XTERRA silver: an Italian on his heels all the way

XTERRA races are triathlons taken off-road. The Junior race, for 18 and 19-year-olds, was a 750-metre swim, a 15-kilometre mountain bike ride and a 5-kilometre trail run.

Froley swam the course in 9:47 and rode the bike leg in 45:40, according to XTERRA’s figures.

Bellemo moved past him on the bike, but Froley took second place back early in the run, which he covered in 23:21.

The fear of being caught never left him. “It was just in the back of my mind the entire time that he was going to catch me,” he said.

Looking back on the final leg, he called it “a tough run”.

Out front, Wright had led the Junior men out of the water and built his advantage on the bike, XTERRA says, finishing almost two and a half minutes clear.

Only his dad could make the trip to America

Froley made the trip with his father, Colin. His mother stayed at home because of what it cost.

He was frank about why. “Only my dad because, again, cost means my mum couldn’t come out as well, which is a shame, but…” he said.

He thanked everyone who had helped him get to the start line. “It’s been a lot to get out here to America. It’s a lot of money, a lot of time, but everybody’s just supporting me,” he said.

Why Froley prefers XTERRA to “the boring road stuff”

Froley has no doubt which kind of triathlon he prefers.

He called XTERRA “a more fun style of triathlon compared to the boring road stuff”, adding: “It’s more aggressive and a purer sort of racing than what you get a lot of back home.”

Athletes from 41 countries raced in Ruidoso across the adult and youth world championships, organisers say, with Sunday given over to the youth races.

XTERRA’s report from the youth championships is on the organisers’ website.

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com