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Human Movement graduate Felicity Sheedy-Ryan has been crowned only the third Australian woman to win the ITU Duathlon World Championship in Nancy, France recently.

The 27-year-old elite triathlete – coached by Assistant Professor Grant Landers from the School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health – dominated the scenic 10km run, 40km bike and 5km run course centered around the city’s UNESCO heritage site Place Stanislas.

And the 2010 bronze medallist had to lower the colours of Great Britain’s defending champion, Katie Hewison and four-time world championship medallist, Frenchwoman Sandra Levenez to claim the gold.

Although Felicity has been absent from the duathlon scene since earning bronze at the 2010 World Championships, she made a seamless return to the twodiscipline sport.

“I knew there were some very strong girls,” she said after the race. “I’ve been doing a lot of hard biking and running recently for my triathlon training, and I was confident I could put in a good race. You never know, it’s never easy, but I was hoping for a really good result.”

The result was indeed good for the Australian, as she dominated the course from start to finish.

The top three leading women rode together throughout the eight-lap course, working to put an insurmountable distance between themselves and their competition.

Halfway through the final run, the tenacious trio separated in the hunt for gold.

The Australian surged to the top spot on the first of three run laps, securing a 20-second lead.

Felicity, a member of the UWA Triathlon Club, represents Australia at the Triathlon World Championships in Auckland soon.

Published in UWA News , 15 October 2012