Rufaza at the ITU Cross World Championship. SUR

Rubén Rufaza finishes third in the XTerra World Championship

The Rincón de la Victoria athlete ended up behind Hayden Wilde and Arthur Serrieres at the event held in Hawaii

EUGENIO CABEZAS

Tuesday, 7 December 2021, 14:42 | Updated 15:05h.

Cross triathlete Rubén Rufaza, from Rincón de la Victoria, finished third in the XTerra World Championship, held on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The competition ended up being a duathlon due to the swimming segment getting cancelled because of rough seas. This was Rufaza's eighth podium in the nine times he's participated in the Hawaiian event.

Despite starting off strongly on the bicycle but failing to keep up the pace with the front, the Spanish triathlete finished just 31 seconds behind second-placed Serrieres in what was a hot, humid and muddy race.

Rufaza's bronze medal means that he also brings home 7,000 dollars in prize money and continues to be the joint most successful cross triathlete in history, level with the now-retired Conrad Stoltz with four world championships each.