Australian Triathlon Legend Craig Walton To Return To Racing
Olympian Craig Walton of Australia says he'll come back to the sport for the short term.
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Olympian Craig Walton of Australia says he’ll come back to the sport for the short term.
Having overcome a tough few months, Craig Walton has stunned Australian triathlon by announcing his racing comeback.
Walton, 34, stresses his return so far is only short-term.
The Sydney Olympian will try to add to his record six Noosa titles on October 31, an event where Walton produced some of his best performances.
Walton has been in training for 10 weeks and admits at the start, it was partly a reaction to his breakup earlier this year with fiance Emma Snowsill.
They were Australian triathlon’s golden couple, with Walton coaching her to the Beijing Olympics title.
“There’s no doubt about that in some aspects, but it’s not about that any more,” Walton said of his return to training.
“I’m actually really happy in my life now, things have changed.
“Obviously it was very hard for the first section of that, when I started back, but things are really great in my life.
“Emma has moved on, I’ve moved on … these things happen, that’s life and there are no ill feelings.”
But the much bigger motivation for the comeback is the feeling that he has unfinished business as a competitor.
Walton had built a world-class reputation as a coach since retiring in 2008 and had also guided Emma Moffatt to last year’s world triathlon series title.
Snowsill won last weekend’s world series grand final in Budapest and Moffatt finished second to successfully defend her series title.
But Walton no longer works with either Emma and in June he was considering a short-term contract in China.
He decided instead to have one last crack at racing.