Britain’s Vicky Holland wins overall season triathlon title

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GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Vicky Holland finished a close second to Australian Ashleigh Gentle but it was enough for the British racer to win the World Series Triathlon women’s season title on Saturday.

Katie Zaferes of the U.S. led the women’s overall standings going into the final with 4,418 points ahead of Holland, who was 34 points behind.

But Holland’s second-place finish gave her a total of 5,540 points, ahead of Zaferes’ 5,488, who finished third Saturday.

Gentle finished in 1 hour, 52 seconds. Holland was two seconds behind and Zaferes another 31 seconds behind Holland.

“I can’t actually believe it,” said Holland. “I thought at one point of the run that it was done because there was quite a big gap there. I can’t believe I brought it back in. This season as a whole has been absolutely incredible with three wins, two seconds and now the world title. It is so much more than I thought I would get out of the year.”

The elite men’s race is scheduled for Sunday. Mario Mola of Spain, looking for his third consecutive World Series Triathlon title, leads the men’s standings with 4,925 points, with Jake Birtwhistle of Australia a distant second with 4,101.

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