Erica Hawley is confident she is moving in the right direction after finishing sixteenth in the women’s triathlon at the Commonwealth Games.

In a race in which compatriot Dame Flora Duffy stormed to a successful defence of her title, Hawley gave her own impressive display, exiting the water from the 750 metres swim in 9min 41sec, clocking 29:16 on the 20-kilometre bike course and completing the 5km run in 18:07 for a combined time of 58:29.

While she may have matched her finish at the 2018 Games in Australia, the 23-year-old believes she is more competitive than she was four years ago.

“It was one of those races where I felt like I made a lot of mistakes, but I actually did OK,” said Hawley, who came into the Games on the back of achieving her first podium finish this month in the elite women’s Continental Cup, with third in California. “I just soaked it all in and overall I’m happy because it went well.

“I think this Commonwealth Games was a lot more competitive. I was sixteenth again but I feel like I was in the main chase group and a lot more competitive, so I definitely think I have improved.

“These past couple of races I’ve managed to be in the mix a bit more and that’s definitely a big thing. My run is slowly improving and so there’s progress there.

Hawley will now be aiming to build on this performance in the mixed team relay on Sunday when she joins Duffy, Tyler Smith and Tyler Butterfield.

“It will be so much fun,” she added. “Flora just got the win and Tyler [Smith] had a great race earlier, so I think something could be magical in that race.”