Beijing bound Hollie Avil took gold at Saturday’s Corus Elite Series triathlon in Bryn Bach Park, Wales, to become British Champion.

The 18 year old, who leaves for the triathlon Olympic preperation camp in Korea today, is the 2007 Junior European and World Triathlon Champion and secured her Olympic Games selection with a fourth place finish at the Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup in May.

A strong bike leg gave Avil a good lead and she fought off competition from Liz Blatchford in the 10k run, who finished second. Third spot went to Andrea Whitcombe.

She said, “I didn’t go out there thinking I needed to win today as I’ve come off a large block of training; so this caps off an excellent week. I wanted to make it hard on the bike as it’s going to be similar in Beijing in just a few weeks time.”

Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

Hollie will be competing at Shisanling Reservoir, just north of Beijing alongside team member Helen Tucker on 18 and 19 August.

Look out for Sportsister’s interview with Hollie Avil - coming soon.