Zefa Fa’avae has produced New Zealand’s best result in a JWOC middle distance for 6 years, finishing 17th in the latest edition, run in Portugal overnight. This was the first time that the JWOC middle distance has been run as a straight final without qualification and Zefa’s time of 26:38 was just over 2 and a quarter minutes behind the Hungarian winner Zoltan Bujdoso.

It is the fourth time in the last 10 years that a Kiwi has finished in the top 20 in the men’s JWOC middle distance following 9th place by Shamus Morrison in 2016, 5th from Nick Hann in 2014, and of course Matt Ogden’s spectacular gold medal in Slovakia in 2012.

In the women’s race Kaia Joergensen finished 53rd in 33:31 with Swedes taking out gold and silver.