Welcome to The Greg Bennett show, an AnyQuestion podcast hosted by Former Professional Olympic and World Champion Athlete Greg Bennett. 

Greg chats with the world's greatest athletes and high performers to find out how they got to the top of the world and how they are able to sustain it. 

In this week’s episode, Greg chats with Australian Triathlete, Ashleigh Gentle.

Ashleigh is one of the most accomplished elite women on the WTS circuit.

For the best part of the past 10 years Ashleigh has won some of the worlds biggest events, including, The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, several ITU world series events, none bigger than the grand final in 2018. Ashleigh has won 8 (yes that’s eight) Noosa triathlons from 10 starts. She has been to multiple Olympics.

In 2014 she won silver in WTS Yokohama in 2015 and 2016 and in Abu Dhabi in 2016. By May 2016, she was ranked third in the world and in the same year, the Australian Olympic Committee announced Gentle’s selection as one of six triathletes who would represent Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro

Ashleigh Gentle won silver at the Junior World Championships in Hamburg in 2007 and Vancouver in 2008, then finally discovered the golden touch in Budapest in 2010. The following year, Gentle won her first ITU World Cup in Edmonton, before placing 9th at her first WTS race in London and has since been one of the sport’s most  consistent performers at the top level.

14:24 - In a series of rapid fire questions, Greg and Ashleigh discuss the feeling of making money (aka) getting “paid” to be an athlete.

25:28 - Ashleigh explains how she got a start in triathlon. 

31:51 - At the age of 16 Ashleigh won silver in her first Junior title representing her country.

40:21 - Ashleigh and Greg discuss the transition from being a teenage athlete to becoming an elite woman athlete.

45:00 - The good times don’t always last, and Ashleigh explains some of the tougher struggles she has experienced in her career.

51:44 - The first Olympics. Ashleigh describes her preparation and the drama of losing all her baggage and her racing bike.

57:06 - Aside from the lows, there have been some amazing highs in Ashleigh’s career … one being the 2018 Grand final on the Gold Coast. 

1:01:38 - Greg and Ashleigh recap 2021 and the challenges of travelling, competing, and hotel quarantine.

1:10:12 - Like so many elite athletes, Ashleigh knows when she is knocked down, how to get up and fight again. Having just recently won her 8th Noosa tri, Ashleigh explains that it has been crucial for her to surround herself with people that lift her up, rather than those negative noises from the public.

1:15:45 - Ashleigh shares her tips for helping people optimize their own lives.

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