COMMONWEALTH Games silver medallist and Durban North resident, Henri Schoeman, recently finished fourth in the Stockholm leg of the World Triathlon Series (WTS) in Sweden. His incredible performance saw him just miss out on the podium finish by 10 seconds. He led the field out of the water but lost the pace in the last kilometre of the run.

“After battling a chest infection before Hamburg, and with it lingering on for a few weeks, I’m really happy to be back, maybe 95 per cent healthy, and racing well again. I had a very bad experience in the Rio Olympics test event so I was hungry for a good result this time.

“My fourth place is an equal career best in the World Triathlon Series so I’m thrilled about my performance. I’m happy with the way I raced and ran myself into second with one lap left to go. It took a lot out of me, and I didn’t have much left for the sprint for podium in the final kilometre,” he said.

Schoeman, who earlier this year strolled to his second elite men’s title in the KZN triathlon champs, also made the top 10 in the series ranking.

“Every race is a huge battle for a podium finish and you have to deliver an extraordinary effort these days to get it. It’s my third time coming close to the podium this season. This was my closest yet. I won’t give up and I will keep pushing to be on the podium.

“I’m probably even more excited about my seventh World Triathlon Series (WTS) ranking, with only the final race in Chicago left for me. I look forward to giving one final push in training and sure that I can deliver a good result in Chicago to secure my first top ten WTS season finish,” said the former Oakridge College pupil.