‘I’ll be back'

By Matt Malone
Updated November 7 2012 - 11:10am, first published August 20 2008 - 1:40am
FIGHTING ON: Despite being hampered by a hip injury, Wagga’s Brad Kahlefeldt fought on bravely and was well placed early in the run, seen here leading Great Britain’s Will Clarke and fellow Australian Courtney Atkinson.
FIGHTING ON: Despite being hampered by a hip injury, Wagga’s Brad Kahlefeldt fought on bravely and was well placed early in the run, seen here leading Great Britain’s Will Clarke and fellow Australian Courtney Atkinson.

STAR Wagga triathlete Brad Kahlefeldt has set his sights on returning bigger and better at the London Olympic Games in 2012 after his down-the-track finish in Beijing yesterday.Kahlefeldt finished 16th in yesterday’s men’s triathlon but has vowed to return to the Olympic stage after his hip injury flared up to spoil any hopes of a podium finish.The 29-year-old was poised to strike in the lead pack after strong swim and bike sections but in the end his hip injury took its toll.German Jan Frodeno caused a major upset and took out the race in a sprint finish, with hot favourite and world champion Javier Gomez from Spain relegated to fourth place.Kahlefeldt finished one minute and 43 seconds behind the winner in 16th place.Following the race yesterday, Kahlefeldt spoke of his disappointment but also declared he will back in London.“I’ll be back in London and back to get a lot better result,” Kahlefeldt said yesterday. It was really disappointing for me.“I knew coming into this race that I was capable of going very well.“I had a good run on the bike and set everything up for the run.“Some races you go well and some you don’t but unfortunately this is the biggest race of the last four years.”Despite feeling good in the lead-up to yesterday’s race, it was a niggling hip injury that came back to bite Kahlefeldt.Just days out from the Games, Kahlefeldt revealed how he thought the injury had ended his Olympic dream when it got so severe that he could not run.Throughout the run leg yesterday, Kahlefeldt looked in extreme discomfort and clutched his hip when crossing the finish line.Kahlefeldt said the pain felt like “a knife twisting with every lap”.“I know that I can keep up with those guys on the day but they were very strong,” Kahlefeldt said.“My hip blew out after the first lap of the run, I felt like a knife was in there after one and a half k’s and I just didn’t expect it to be so early.”

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