Jacob's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Triathlon
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Highlights: Winning silver and gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Year Born: 1995
State Born: TAS
About Jacob
After being crowed Australian Junior Champion in middle and long distance running eleven times, Jacob Birtwhistle made the transition to triathlon when he was 17.
The 26-year-old excelled in the sport quickly and in 2016 claimed silver at the Hamburg Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships. A year later, he topped this by claiming the gold medal at the 2017 Mixed Relay World Championships.
Jacob made his Commonwealth Games debut in 2018 on the Gold Coast, where he claimed silver in the individual race and gold in the mixed-team relay. Later going on to also claim silver at the ITU World Championships and gold at the ITU World Series.
The Tasmanian finished the 2018 season with five top-five finishes and ranked an impressive number three in the world.
He took that form into 2019 with his first World Triathlon Series wins, claiming gold in both Leeds and Hamburg, ending the year as the world No.6.
Jacob made his Olympic debut at the delayed Tokyo 2020 games. Looking to carry his form onto the world's biggest stage he competed in both the men's triathlon and mixed relay triathlon.
Individually he achieved 16th overall in the Men's Triathlon, the highest ranking of the Aussies, achieving a time of 1:46:32. Jacob also competed as part of the Australia mixed relay triathlon team, alongside; Ashleigh Gentle, Emma Jeffcoat, and Matthew Hauser. The team achieved a top 10 finish in the event, accomplishing 9th overall at the event with a time of 1:26:27.
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