Australian Greg Bennett on Sunday won Los Angeles Triathlon with a time of 1:46:04, his third win in a row, race organizers said.

Bennett came out of the nine-tenths mile ocean swim in 11th place, nearly a minute behind Andy Potts, the American who won the swim segment. But Bennett powered through the 24.8 mile bike race toward downtown Los Angeles with an average speed of 27.6 mph, taking over the lead at the 15 mile marker and never looking back.

He completed the 6.2 mile run segment in 31.19 seconds to hang on for the win.

"My goal was to make the most of the bike course," said Bennett after the race, in remarks released by the race organizers. "I thought if I started the run segment at least 30 seconds in front, I could control the run. Anything less than that, I knew Andy (Potts) could run me down."

In the overall competition, Potts was second, with 1:46:47. The remainder of the top five men included Aussie Paul Matthews, 1:48: 08; Britain's Stuart Hayes, 1:49:01; and Canadian Brent McMahon, 1:49:17.

The women's professional competition was won by American Becky Lavelle, clocking a 1:59:46, earning her 10,000 dollars. Lavelle was an alternate for the U.S. women's Olympic team in Beijing and the 2003 L.A. champion.

American Mary Beth Ellis was second with 2:01:12, followed by Julie Swail Ertel from Irvine, 2:03:10. Ertel was the fastest woman swimmer.

Nearly 3,000 professional and amateur triathletes competed in the race, formally known as the "Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon presented by Herbalife."

It consists of a ninth-tenths of a mile swim off Venice Beach, a24.8-mile bicycling segment to the L.A. Live entertainment complex adjacent to Staples Center, followed by a 6.2-mile run on a looped course, also ending at L.A. Live.

No fatalities or injuries were reported this year in Los Angeles.

Source: Xinhua