Matthew Clough and his silver medal. Photo supplied.Ashburton multisport athlete Matthew Clough has already won a silver and is eyeing up a gold today at the ITU Multisport World Championships Festival in Denmark.

Clough, 17, lined up for his first shot at world glory in the 18-19 section of the world cross tri event on Tuesday and won silver, finishing just 21 seconds behind the winner, fellow Kiwi Brendon Bergs.

Bergs crossed the line in 45.17 minutes, while Clough finished in 45.38 minutes, with a big gap of almost 10 minutes back to Germany’s Bryam Rex in third.

“I left every single bit of me out on the course today, stumbling over the finish line,” Clough posted on Facebook after the race.

While happy to have a silver in his pocket, that isn’t the end of it for Clough. He still has another big goal he wants to achieve in Denmark.

Clough is also set to line up at the starting line for the aquathlon – a 1km open water swim and a 5km run – today. While Tuesday was his first time eligible to enter the cross tri – a 1km open water swim, a 28km mountain bike ride and a 10km run – Clough is no stranger to aquathlons.

He’s been to the world championships the past two years running for aquathlon, and won bronze in his first attempt and silver in his second.

Before leaving for Denmark, Clough said there was only one way to go from a bronze and a silver, and that was to win gold.

Clough will be one of 15 athletes lining up in the 16-19 age group in the aquathlon race later today Denmark time.

The trip to Denmark was the start of a big few months for Clough, who was also set to head to Maui, Hawaii, in October for the World Xterra Championships.

Before that he was set to attend Xterra Townsville in Australia to help him acclimatise to the warmer conditions.

Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 11 July 2018