Switzerland's Reto Hug has finished a respectable eighth at the world triathlon championships in Edmonton, completing a generally successful weekend for the Swiss in Canada.

At the end of a tightly contested race, Hug was just 33 seconds off a podium place, and only 46 seconds behind the new world champion, Australia's Peter Robertson.

Following the opening 1.5 kilometre swim, Hug held a six second lead over Robertson, but the 25-year-old from St Gallen lost valuable time in the changeover when another competitor sent one of his shoes flying.

After 40 kilometres on his bike, Hug was down to seventh place and dropped another position during the closing 10km run.

"I just couldn't run any faster," he said afterwards. "But against such strong competition I have to be happy with eighth place."

Hug's latest performance follows a similarly strong outing at last year's Sydney Olympics where he also finished eighth.

Unhappy Matter

Switzerland's Sibylle Matter was forced to abandon the women's race two kilometres into the running stage. But after seeing 19-year-old Nicola Spirig take gold in the girl's competition and Sven Riederer finish ninth in the boy's race, the national association had plenty to celebrate.

"Of the four participants competing at these world championships, three landed in the top ten," pointed out sporting director René Kissling. "That's a convincing performance."

swissinfo with agencies

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