Illawarra athletes are squarely in the frame to win medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year after triathlete Aaron Royle booked his place at the Games and swimmer Emma McKeon won gold at the world titles.
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Royle, a star performer of the elite Wollongong Wizards squad, ensured he would return to Brazil with a sixth-place finish at a test event in Rio.
The Newcastle-born young gun produced a controlled performance under pressure to place in the top 10 last Sunday, meaning he will return to the same course next year to chase an Olympic medal.
"To be honest it hasn't sunk in yet," Royle said.
"It's a really tough bike course, but the group we had worked really well together and kept it smooth which made it a lot easier.
"The heat made a difference as well."
With one year until the opening ceremony, McKeon continued her emergence as an international star of the pool as part of Australia's 4x100 metres relay team which secured gold at the world championships in Russia last Sunday night.
Wollongong's McKeon missed the London Games, where her brother David competed in the 400m event but is expected to be part of Australia's team in Rio.
In 2012, Illawarra finished with three medals, with Warilla paddler David Smith winning gold in the K4 1000m final and Albion Park's Kieran Govers (hockey) and Helensburgh's Alicia McCormack (water polo) winning bronze.
Royle secured a spot in the lead group during the opening swim leg and maintained his forward position as fellow Australians Ryan Fisher, Wollongong Wizards teammate Ryan Bailie and dual Olympian Courtney Atkinson chased from the second group.
The 25-year-old then played it safe on the run leg despite Spain's Javier Gomez Noya and Frenchman Vincent Luis opening a gap to finish first and second, while South Africa's Richard Murray came third.
"That run I was battling but needed to be conservative and aim for the top 10," Royle said.
"On a day like today you could blow real bad and I just had to run smart.
"It wasn't the quickest run, but I did what I needed to do."
Bailie, Fisher and Atkinson finished in 14th, 21st and 42nd places respectively, while Tasmanian Jacob Birtwhistle was forced to withdraw due to cramps.
Australia's women were unsuccessful in their qualification bid in a similarly mixed bag of results, with Gillian Backhouse finishing best in 13th position. AAP