Recent Old Collegian, Dylan McCullough took little time to achieve his goal after leaving College last year. A seasoned triathlete, Dylan left at the end of Year 12 to focus on the sport he loves. 

Now aged 17, he secured a spot on the New Zealand Youth Olympic team earlier in the year, to compete at the 2018 Youth Olympics currently taking place in Buenos Aires. The games bring together talented young athletes aged 15 to 18 from over 200 countries around the world to compete in the spirit of Olympic values. 

In the first week of competition, Dylan was the first Kiwi to medal, earning gold in the individual event. He followed this up only two days later with a silver medal as part of the Oceania mixed team, racing with fellow New Zealand triathlete, Brea Roderick from Christchurch and two Australians who completed the team. 

Dylan has been involved in the sport since age 9, making a notable contribution to the multisport medal tally during his years at Saint Kentigern. His personal drive and dedication to training paid dividends in the individual event in Buenos Aires. He broke away to a 13 second lead, after a tight-fought bike ride with Italy's Alessio Crociani. He then went on to win in a time of 53:27 – a full 12 seconds ahead of Portuguese silver medallist, Alexandre Monties.

Describing the race as ‘touch and go,’ Dylan said it was an amazing feeling to come away with the top title. ‘I tried to keep calm but obviously it's such a big race and I was quite nervous coming into it but I just knew that I had to stick to the plan and knew if I stuck to that, and executed everything perfectly, then I should have a great race.’ 

And a great race it was! Well done Dylan! 

Dylan is now preparing for the 2018 Salinas ITU Triathlon World Cup in Equador later in October. 

Our sincere thanks to the International Olympic Committee for supply and use of the photos.

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