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SA triathletes ready for Commonwealth glory

Cape Town - South Africa's triathlon medal prospects at the Commonwealth Games look promising after team-mates Richard Murray and Henri Schoeman bagged gold and silver respectively at the Discovery Triathlon World Cup title in Cape Town, on Sunday in Green Point.

The Triathlon World Cup Cape Town is the opening race of the 2018 International Triathlon Union (ITU) season.

The event is the only World Cup triathlon event that takes place on African soil.

Murray, who defended his title, followed closely by fellow South African Schoeman, who finished second, took to the iconic blue carpet with true South African pride.

READ: Murray defends World Cup on home turf

"I'm trying to get the most I can out of myself this year. The Commonwealth games are big focus this year so I just need to focus on what I need to do day in day out, train as best I can and hopefully the results come from that. Also ending up in the top three of the World Triathlon Series overall ranking," said Murray.

Murray added that he was thrilled with the win of the 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run race (in a time of 00:52:15), and that fellow Commonwealth Games team-mate Schoeman also had a podium finish by coming second in a time of 00:52:39.

"There's a lot more pressure in this event than some other events because being from Cape Town, family, friends and everyone comes out so they add pressure but I managed to pull it off which is great to do it in front of a home crowd. My transition wasn't great today, that's something I noticed and I have to work on," said Murray.

Schoeman, who is an Olympic bronze medalist, said second place is a fantastic start to the season.

"I'm happy with my current form and I've got a few things to tweak leading up to the Commonwealth Games. It's good to have this race, I know I have to work on a couple of things, especially the running. Swimming is in good shape, cycling is in good shape, I just need to get a little more fitness into the running and I will be ready in two months' time," added Schoeman.

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