IT was only on his eighth attempt that Courtney Atkinson finally broke through to claim the Noosa Triathlon.
Naturally, he hopes clinching a second will be a lot easier.
Refreshed after a hectic year on the inaugural ITU world championship circuit, Atkinson returns to Noosa this weekend confident, despite it being an unhappy hunting ground until last year.
“Over the last 10 years I have raced at Noosa a lot of times and I had a lot of seconds,” laughed Atkinson from his Mermaid Waters home yesterday.
“It was a different person every time who beat me so it was nice to finally crack it last year. And I have been in pretty similar form this year so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Regarded as ‘one as of the best triathletes Australia has produced’, Atkinson enjoyed a bumper 2009 season, backing his victory at Noosa last year.
He won the Australian sprint distance championships in Hobart before stealing his second Mooloolaba crown in March.
Despite a stomach virus disrupting his ITU campaign, the 30-year-old was consistently pushing for a top-10 place, eventually finishing seventh, which included a second at the London triathlon.
“(Falling sick) threw a spanner in the works halfway through the year, it knocked me around for a few months but I come back pretty strong in the end,” said Atkinson.
Focused on building on his results next year, Atkinson gave a glowing report of the series which thrust triathlon back on the map.
“It’s great for us (to have a series like this) and it puts us back on an international stage due to the fact they can run the world championship over a number of races and it’s televised throughout the world,” said Atkinson, who goes into the event without long-time sparring partner Brad Kahlefeldt.
