This was our preview of the 2024 Noosa Triathlon, and you can click for a full race report on how Ashleigh Gentle and Brayden Mercer won the Elite races.
It’s the 41st running of the Noosa Triathlon this weekend, with Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast hosting one of the most iconic triathlon races on the calendar.
Leading the fields are home favourite Ashleigh Gentle on the women’s side, who is gunning for an incredible 11th title here, while for the men former champions Luke Willian and Jake Birtwhistle top the Aussie challenge.
In our preview piece below, you can find all the details you need on start times, how to watch live and a preview of the professional women and men’s races on Sunday.
Start time and how to watch live
The racing takes place in Queensland on Sunday November 3. In Noosa, the men will start first at 06:15 local time. This corresponds to 20:15 on Saturday November 2 in the UK, 21:15 in Central Europe and 12:15 on the West Coast.
For the women’s race, the action will kick off two minutes later at 06:17 local time. This corresponds to 20:17 on Saturday November 2 in the UK, 21:17 in Central Europe and 12:17 on the West Coast.
And the great news is you can watch it all unfold without leaving this page, thanks to the YouTube embed below.
Elite Women racing at Noosa 2024
Ashleigh Gentle has won the famous event 10 times in the last 11 years and heads into the race as the athlete the beat once again – click here to hear her pre-race thoughts.
Sophie Malowiecki and Richelle Hill joined Gentle on the Noosa Triathlon podium last year and will both be out to make sure that the 10-time champion doesn’t have it all her own way this weekend.
Another athlete set to challenge for the title is Sydney’s Natalie Van Coevorden, who recently made her Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Sunday’s race will also have an international flavour, with five overseas athletes mixed in amongst the field, with Lotte Wilms from the Netherlands, Sweden’s Anna Bergsten and Kiwi duo Rebecca Clarke and Nicole Van Der Kaay, a two-time Olympian, all set to race.
Elite Men
Former champions Luke Willian and Jake Birtwhistle are the top seeded Australians.
But they’ve got tough international competition in the shape of Paris 2024 Olympic Games representative for South Africa Jamie Riddle and New Zealand’s Tayler Reid.
Willian looks the favourite after a year which has featured an Olympic debut and a sixth-place finish in the World Triathlon Championship rankings.
He said: “It has been an amazing year, to finish sixth in the world is something I had only dreamed of achieving until this year. And with that came the opportunity to represent Australia at the Olympics which was a childhood dream come true and just goes to show, don’t give up on your dreams and keep chasing them.”
Also set to challenge for the title is 2022 champion Charlie Quin and reigning Mooloolaba Triathlon champion Caleb Noble.
Ashleigh Gentle’s incredible Noosa record
The Aussie star first triumphed here in 2012 and here’s the roll on honour since then:
- 2023 – Hayden Wilde (NZL) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2022 – Charlie Quin (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2021 – Luke Willian (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2019 – Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2018 – Aaron Royle (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2017 – Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2016 – Dan Wilson (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2015 – Joe Malloy (USA) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2014 – Aaron Royle (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- 2013 – Aaron Royle (AUS) | Emma Moffatt (AUS)
- 2012 – Peter Kerr (AUS) | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is A$75,000 – with the winner collecting a A$15,600 share of that total.
The total funds will be paid ten-deep, as follows:
- 1. A$15,600
- 2. A$9,100
- 3. A$5,200
- 4. A$1,930
- 5. A$1,270
- 6. A$1,140
- 7. A$1,010
- 8. A$880
- 9. A$750
- 10. A$620
