SOMETIMES it's simply all about crossing the finish line, especially when it's your first time racing in the elite division.
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Port Macquarie triathlete Madi Roberts maintained her perfect record of always completing an event at Mooloolaba on March 14.
The result wasn't what she wanted in the open division, finishing 11th out of 11 largely due to an exploded bike tyre.
It put an end to her race before it really started after the 25-year-old had emerged from the swim leg in the lead group.
The result was a 12-minute wait while the tyre was replaced and after some positive reinforcement from her mother, she was back out on the course and completed the race.
"I've never had a DNF before and there wasn't any reason for me to pull out other than I wasn't in the running to win it and that was a stupid reason," Roberts said.
I've never had a DNF before and there wasn't any reason for me to pull out other than I wasn't in the running to win it and that was a stupid reason.
- Madi Roberts
"I was doubting my swim leg ability, but now I know the next time I can race professional I am capable of swimming.
"I was right up there with the top girls so I knew if I could stay with them on the bike I had a really good chance of a podium finish on the run because that's my strongest leg."
But fate had other ideas and she finished a respectable 46th overall out of 492 competitors, overcoming blustery conditions on the bike in the process.
"I couldn't even go down on my aero bars because the wind was pushing me across the road; you couldn't even take a hand off the bars to get a drink," she said.
It was a mental challenge to push through when things aren't going your way and I learned to have more confidence in my swim and keep going.
- Madi Roberts
"It was a mental challenge to push through when things aren't going your way and I learned to have more confidence in my swim and keep going."
The race was another step on the path to the 70.3 distance world championships in November.
Roberts has successful history at those events over the last five years, winning the Olympic distance world championships in 2017.
She also finished fifth in South Africa in 2018 and on the Sunshine Coast in 2016 after registering a sixth-place finish in Canada in 2014.
"I haven't qualified yet, so I was going to go to Cairns in June for the qualifying race," Roberts said.
"I'd need a top two finish, but I won Cairns overall in 2017 so I was secretly wanting to win it again."
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