Non Stanford put a difficult season of injuries and illness behind her to claim second place at the Beijing International Triathlon.

The Welsh athlete finished one minute 57 seconds behind winner Ashleigh Gentle of Australia at the event over the weekend at the Olympic course in China.

Stanford trailed fellow Briton Lucy Hall by just three seconds after the swim, with the rest of the chasing pack, Including Gentle, over a minute behind.

But the Aussie rival, powered by a women’s-best 1:04:29 bike split, caught Stanford at the second transition and proved stronger over the run.

Stanford’s run time of 39:24 saw her finish second, with a one minute 20 seconds lead over third-placed Hall.

It was a welcome return to form for Swansea’s Wales Commonwealth Games team captain who finished eighth at the Gold Coast back in April and was then forced to pull out of the European Triathlon Championship in Glasgow in August because of asthma problems.

Results

Women

1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 2:05:55 S 19:35 T1 3:27 B 1:04:29 T2 00:50 R 37:35
2. Non Stanford (GBR) 2:07:52 S 18:29 T1 3:40 B 1:05:26 T2 00:55 R 39:24
3. Lucy Hall (GBR) 2:09:12 S 18:26 T1 3:30 B 1:04:59 T2 00:52 R 41:27
4. Barbara Riveros (CHL) 2:09:28 S 19:39 T1 3:39 B 1:04:55 T2 00:58 R 40:19
5. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:10:07 S 20:26 T1 3:58 B 1:05:24 T2 39:17
6. Paula Findlay (CAN) 2:10:32 S 19:43 T1 3:52 B 1:05:44 T2 1:00 R 40:14
7. Sophie Corbidge (NZL) 2:12:00 S 19:36 T1 3:42 B 1:06:02 T2 00:57 R 41:44
8. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2:13:10 S 19:30 T1 3:50 B 1:06:26 T2 00:50 R 42:37
9. Alicia Kaye (CAN) 2:15:21 S 19:40 T1 3:58 B 1:05:39 T2 1:06 R 45:00
10. Claire Davis (AUS ) 2:25:15 S 19:46 T1 4:27 B 1:13:54 T2 1:29 R 45:42

Men

1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:51:37 S 17:19 T1 3:10 B 57:32 T2 00:46 R 32:52
2. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 1:51:46 S 17:54 T1 3:15 B 56:45 T2 00:49 R 33:05
3. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 1:51:58 S 17:09 T1 3:21 B 57:30 T2 00:45 R 33:15
4. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:54:08 S 17:50 T1 3:13 B 58:14 T2 00:54 R 35:24
5. Ben Kanute (USA) 1:54:09 S 17:17 T1 3:15 B 57:25 T2 00:50 R 35:24
6. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 1:55:32 S 17:56 T1 3:27 B 57:48 T2 00:51 R 35:31
7. Cam Dye (USA) 1:56:36 S 17:48 T1 3:16 B 56:46 T2 00:54 R 37:54
8. Jason West (USA) 1:57:18 S 18:39 T1 3:18 B 59:21 T2 00:48 R 35:13
9. Max Neumann (AUS) 1:57:25 S 17:52 T1 3:18 B 659:38 T2 00:59 R 35:39
10. Brian Duffy (USA) 2:00:21 S 18:37 T1 3:45 B 1:00:13 T2 00:55 R 36:53