GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — Mario Mola of Spain won his third consecutive World Triathlon Series men's title after a second-place finish in the final race of the season Sunday.
France's Vincent Luis won in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 33 seconds — 14 seconds ahead of Mola. Richard Murray of South Africa was third in 1:44:55.
Mola, who won four races during the season, had a lead of more than 800 points in the overall standings heading into Sunday's final race.
Mola, who was crowned junior world champion on the Gold Coast nine years ago, joined countryman Javier Gomez as the only men to have won three successive world titles.
"It's been a great season," he said. "(Gomez) set the path for all the others, particularly Spanish athletes. I could never imagine having three titles."
Mola finished with 6,081 points overall, with Luis on 5,060. Australian Jake Birtwhistle was third with 4,884, followed by Murray with 4,792.
On Saturday, Vicky Holland finished a close second to Australian Ashleigh Gentle but it was enough for the British competitor to win the overall women's season title. Katie Zaferes of the U.S. led the women's standings going into the final with 4,418 points, with Holland 34 points behind.
But Holland's second-place finish gave her a total of 5,540 points, ahead of Zaferes' 5,488, who finished third Saturday.
Gentle finished in 1 hour, 52 seconds. Holland was two seconds behind and Zaferes 31 seconds behind Holland.
