Great Britain`s European U23 champion Gordon Benson won the men`s Triathlon in 1:48.31 after a thrilling battle in the hot sun at Bilgah Beach on Sunday.
Benson held off the fast-finishing Portuguese Joao Silva, who emerged from 50 seconds back in fifth place, over the last lap of the run. Silva finished second in 1:48:42, while Rostyslav Pevtsov produced a fantastic finale to earn bronze for Azerbaijan
The 21-year-old Briton revealed that he felt he could win the gold despite not being considered a pre-race favourite: "We said before if I do everything right and we play our cards right there`s no reason why I can`t win. I thought `everyone here`s beatable, and I`m just going to put everything on the line and do what I can and try and win Team GB that gold medal`."
The victory means that the British NOC has a quota slot for Rio 2016 assured.
Spain`s Fernando Alarza, who is ranked third in the world and had been widely tipped for victory, finished a disappointing 11th. He blamed a pre-match bout of stomach problems, but congratulated Benson on his victory, which he said the British team "truly deserved".
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