NORTH-EAST athlete Bella Comerford achieved her goal of a top-10 finish while her British team-mate Chrissie Wellington struck gold for the second year in a row in the Ironman world triathlon championships at Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday.
Aberdeenshire's Comerford completed the 2.4-mile open water swim, 112-mile cycle and 26.2-mile marathon in a combined time of 9hr 34min 8sec to take seventh position.
Comerford was delighted with the outcome. She said: “I am just over the moon. It is a real feeling of achievement. I conquered the heat of Hawaii and came home strongly. I was nervous of the heat coming into the race as I have had a few real hard tests in the heat before, but today I beat it.
“I swam great, coming out of the water with the main contenders.
“I found the bike hard as it was windy and hot. I didn't feel I had my normal bike legs, but I kept my concentration and worked with the legs I had."
She added: “I got to work on the run and began to reel in some big names. I concentrated and did all the little things that I had to do to stay strong.
“It was an amazing feeling to cross the finish line in seventh position. I am very happy."
Wellington, from Thetford, clocked 9:06:23 to take the title ahead of Austria's Yvonne van Vierkin and Germany's Sandra Wallenhorst.
The Englishwoman's victory came despite losing almost 10 minutes repairing a damaged tyre during the cycle stage.
Australia's Craig Alexander won the men's race in 8:17:04. The 35-year-old, who was runner-up in 2007, was 11th at the start of the marathon, but pulled through the field with a record-breaking run to take the title.
Comerford's fiance Stephen Bayliss was 19th in 8:49:38, while Aberdeen's Scott Neyedli failed to finish.