Chloe Pollard claimed a sixth place finish for Team GB in the aquathlon at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar.
Racing across a 2.5km run, 750m swim and a second 2.5km run; 58 men and women took to the stunning location of Katara Beach, Doha looking to pick up the first aquathlon medals at the World Beach Games.
Starting at 6:05am to avoid the intensity of the daytime heat and humidity, 28 women lined up to represent their nations in Qatar. Representing Team GB were Chloe Pollard and Hannah Kitchen in a field that comprised some strong aquathlon talent including eventual winner Xisca Tous (ESP).
The Spaniard took the tape in 00:29:38, ahead of Levkovska (AZE) and Manac (ROU), with Pollard crossing the line in 00:30:42 to finish in sixth place. A small group of five led the way through the first run and into the water, however Pollard had a great swim and was able to catch up and stay with Tous as she decided to push on and try and take control of the race.
Exiting the water together just a matter of seconds ahead of the chasing athletes, it was Tous who put the hammer down to storm ahead on the run to finish 25 seconds ahead of Levkovska in second, and one minute and four seconds ahead of Pollard.
In the men’s race, which started just five minutes ahead of the women’s, Spain’s Kevin Vinuela took the gold medal ahead Mark Davey (HUN) and Rostislav Pevtsov (AZE) in silver and bronze. Taking the tape in 00:26:22, Vinuela finished seven seconds in front of Davey to win the gold before Tous made it a clean sweep for Spain in the individual aquathlon races.
Photo credit Ben Lumley/ITU Media
