Australian Institute of Sport triathlete Emma Moffatt has produced a stunning performance, winning the final of the Dextro Energy Triathlon — ITU World Championship Series, at Southport on the Gold Coast on Sunday 13 September.

Moffatt cruised to victory in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 14 seconds — five seconds ahead of Sweden’s Lisa Norden (1:59.19) and 27 seconds ahead of the United Kingdom’s Helen Jenkin (1:59.41).

The final was a tight battle for Moffatt, who started only 120 points ahead of Norden and finished the swim stage in fourth place. She managed to catch up to the Swede during the 40km cycle to share the lead, and then pulled away in the last 300 metres of the 10km run to claim victory.

In the final points tally Moffatt was on top with 4340 points, followed by Norden on 4130 and New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt on 3462.

This is the first time Moffatt has won the ITU World Championship Series and she is the first Australian to win in its new series/points format. Remarkably, Moffatt managed to overcame a serious foot injury, which left her unable to run for a month, in the lead up to the final. She showed enormous courage and determination to win.

‘I’m just so thrilled,’ said Moffatt. ‘It was so exciting out there racing in front of that fantastic crowd and everything fell into place. I haven’t let myself think about it much and it will take a while to sink in.’

AIS athlete Annabel Luxford finished in fifth place in the women’s final, tenth place overall (2191 points) and, in the men’s final, the AIS’s Courtney Atkinson finished in fifth place, seventh overall (2980).