There were 3 spots up for grabs going into the race in Australia. None of the athletes competing in Melbourne had qualified so far, meaning that the three podium place finishers would secure their spots for the Elite15 World Championships.
The roster was packed with world class athletes: Tim Wenisch, James Kelly, Hunter McIntyre, Jonathon Wynn, Sean Noble, Jake Dearden, Beau Wills, Josh Van Zeeland, Charlie Botterill, Marc Dean, Liam McCroary, Graham Halliday, Maarten Enthoven, Alen Ploj, Cole Learn, Sean Noble and Jonathon Wynn.
Alongside the big names, Botterill, Learn and Van Zeeland were all on excellent form going into the race. The latter recently beating James Kelly in Singapore.
The Race
Wenisch was first to the first corner (as usual) but McIntyre pushed back. The two jostled back and forth before the German champion settled into the lead. Noble and JK rounded out the leading pack. Noble was first to the ski erg.
On the ski erg McIntyre worked a fast cycle rate. Noble worked a long, slower stroke. Wenisch was fast and efficient, and was first off the ski erg with a time of 03:37.
On the second run, Wenisch and McIntyre lead again. Hunter pulled ahead of Tim on the sled. Noble, Enthoven and Van Zeeland were also strong on the sled.
Wenisch made up time on the next run. Hunter received a yellow card on the sled pull for accidently stepping over the line. He got a 15 second penalty which would return to bite him later on in the race. Botterill moved up the ranking during the workout station and also looked powerful. Halliday unfortunately had to withdraw from competition.
On the next run, McIntyre dug deep to keep up with Wenisch. The athletes went neck and neck all the way through the burpees. The American was called back to complete his final burpee, allowing Wenisch to gain an extra few yards on the next run and open up a sizeable lead.
Going into the rowing, Van Zeeland, Noble, Learn and Wynn followed Wenisch and McIntyre.
McIntyre looked faster than Wenisch on the farmers carry. Tim had to put the kettlebells down and Hunter passed him.
On the next run Wenisch made his move and passed hi rival to take back the lead. Hunter managed to pass him again on the sandbag lunges. Van Zeeland was comfortably in third, as he managed to establish a decent gap between him and fourth place.
With the next run, Wenisch opened the gap up to 16 seconds between him and second place McIntyre.
Moving into the wall balls, Tim broke at 60. And at 76. McIntrye finished the wall balls first, but with the addition of his 15 second penalty, Wenisch was able to comfortably work through the final few and cross the finish line in first. Similar to Chicago, the final race came down to the wall balls but once again, Tim was able to win.
Van Zeeland and Botterill went neck and neck on the wall balls but Botterill managed to edge ahead, run to the finish with his head in his hands and secure his qualifying spot.
Hunter and Tim already started some fun trash talk after the race was over, but Wenisch stated that “today it was just fun from start to finish”.
McIntyre replied “I always appreciate a good battle. And that was a good battle”. It was a head to head race, however “the penalty is what killed me ultimately”.
Final Leaderboard
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Wenisch | 🇩🇪 Germany | 54:09 |
| 2 | Hunter McIntyre | 🇺🇸 USA | 54:15 |
| 3 | Charlie Botterill | 🏴 England | 55:29 |
| 4 | Sean Noble | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 55:37 |
| 5 | Josh Van Zeeland | 🏴 England | 55:38 |
| 6 | Cole Learn | 🇨🇦 Canada | 55:43 |
| 7 | Alen Ploj | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 55:53 |
| 8 | Liam McCroary | 🏴 Scotland | 55:53 |
| 9 | Beau Wills | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 55:58 |
| 10 | Jonathon Wynn | 🇦🇺 Australia | 56:21 |
| 11 | Jake Dearden | 🏴 England | 56:28 |
| 12 | James Kelly | 🇦🇺 Australia | 57:09 |
| 13 | Maarten Enthoven | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 57:55 |
| 14 | Marc Dean | 🏴 England | 58:06 |
