Butterfield, Smith Win Tokio Millennium Triathlon
Tyler Butterfield and Karen Smith won the Tokio Millennium Triathlon held in Hamilton this morning [June 9].
Butterfield — a two-time Olympian who recently won the Bermuda Day Half Marathon — was the defending champion and came in as the heavy favourite.
Butterfield thrilled the crowds by having a finish line ‘sprint-off’ with his brother Spencer, who was racing as part of the Butterfield & Vallis Team.
Speaking after the race, Tyler Butterfield said: “It was a lot of fun out there today, it is always great to come back and compete at home, giving the sponsors a show as they support me all the time.”
Butterfield continued, “I pushed really hard in the swim and then the bike, and then really pushed hard for two laps in the half before letting Spencer catch me up.”
“Then my brother and I decided to have a little sprint-off. My brother always gets the better of me in the sprints so I thought I had a chance today. I thought maybe he would be a bit tired at the end of his run. But he got the better of me at the line.”
Women’s winner Karen Smith said, “The day was wonderful, I wanted to save some for the run because I knew the conditions, it was getting warmer and I was making sure I the energy to finish strong and I was able to do that.”
