April 28, 2008

Race Results: 2008 Men’s Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup

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from Triathlon.org…

2006 Triathlon World Champion, Tim Don of Great Britain, won the Tongyeong BG Triathlon World Cup today in South Korea, the 198th world cup in ITU’s history. The fleet-footed Don ran away from the competition over the final stages of the race to claim the fifth world cup win of his career in a time of 1 hour 38 minutes and 14 seconds. In second position, only six seconds behind, Athens Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand out-sprinted Germany’s Jan Frodeno in a photo finish result. Don continues his push to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games as he shows great form heading into next month’s final selection race at the Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup, moving to first in the BG Triathlon World Cup rankings.

“I always give 100% and I was so pleased to get on the top of the podium,” commented the 30-year old Brit known to his friends as ‘The Don’.

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April 24, 2008

Race Preview: Tongyeong - BG Triathlon World Cup race #4

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from Triathlon.org…

The BG Triathlon World Cup series heads to South Korea this Saturday for the first time since 2004. As one of just six world cup events before the end of ITU Olympic qualifying, Tongyeong welcomes a world class field that is expected to include a number of contenders including Beijing bound Jan Frodeno of Germany, four-time world cup winner Rasmus Henning of Denmark, Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty and 2006 world champion Tim Don of Great Britain. Click here for men’s start list

Headlining the women’s field are Olympic bound athletes prepping for Beijing including five-time World Cup winner Samantha Warriner of New Zealand, and German Ricarda Lisk. The 2006 junior world champion Kirsten Sweetland from Canada opens her 2008 world cup season in Tongyeong as will teammate Lauren Groves who’s coming off a silver medal performance at the PATCO Pan American Championships in Mazatlan, Mexico. Also in the field will be Great Britain’s promising youngster Hollie Avil who will compete in just her elite world cup. Last year’s junior world and European champion was impressive in her debut, taking bronze at the Ishigaki BG Triathlon World Cup. Click here for women’s start list

Also at stake for the athletes is a US$100,000 prize purse. After diving off a pontoon, athletes will complete a 2-lap 1.5-kilometer ocean swim. At the end of the first lap, athletes will have to come out on the pontoon and dive back in. Wetsuits are expected as water temperature will be between 15 and 17 degrees Celsius. Out of the water athletes will cycle 5 laps around an 8-kilometer loop that includes a pair of hills. Off the bike, it’s onto a flat 10-kilometer run course.

April 17, 2008

2008 Australian Olympic triathlon team selected

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from olympics.com.au….

Emma Moffatt and Erin Densham have won a four-way battle to join Emma Snowsill as Australia’s women’s triathletes at the Beijing Olympics.

Triathlon Australia (TA) announced the athletes they will nominate to the Australian Olympic Committee, with Moffatt and Densham getting the nod over Felicity Abram and Annabel Luxford.

Snowsill was pre-selected by TA last year, as were men’s representatives Brad Kahlefeldt and Courtney Atkinson.

Greg Bennett was provisionally named as the third men’s team member, subject to Australia meeting the International Triathlon Union requirements by June 8 to have a full squad of three.

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April 6, 2008

Race Results: 2008 Men’s New Plymouth BG Triathlon World Cup

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from Triathlon.org…

Gomez storms to 9th world cup win

He was down by more than a minute after the bike but the deficit didn’t matter for world number one Javier Gomez. As he’s done so many times before, the Spanish sensation ripped through the run to win today’s New Plymouth BG Triathlon World Cup. The run course was accurately measured at 10.2 kilometers, which Gomez absolutely shredded with a superhuman run clocked at 29:37.

“It’s amazing, two weeks, two victories. This was my best race ever. It’s the best way to start the season. It was a difficult race and I am very happy.” said Gomez. “It’s a great start but the Olympics are still a ways away and there is lots to do.”

The victory comes hot on the heels of his season-opening win in Mooloolaba last weekend. Not able to keep up with his Spanish rival, Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt once again finished runner-up taking the silver 31 seconds behind. British veteran Andrew Johns made it back to the world cup podium with a bronze, his first medal since a bronze in Makuhari, Japan in 2003

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April 4, 2008

Race Preview: New Plymouth - BG Triathlon World Cup race #2

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from triathlon.org…

One week after the season kicked off in Mooloolaba, Australia last weekend, the BG Triathlon World Cup series shifts to New Plymouth on the North Island of New Zealand. Since taking gold and silver at the Athens Olympics, the small country has become a triathlon powerhouse, producing numerous world cup winners including 2004 Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, along with the mighty women’s trio of Samantha Warriner, Debbie Tanner and Andrea Hewitt; all world cup winners. In 2005 in New Plymouth, Docherty and Gemmell delighted the home crowds with a Kiwi gold-silver sweep and hope to duplicate that success in 2008.

Last year’s world number three and 5-time world cup winner Samantha Warriner opens her 2008 campaign at home this weekend after opting to skip the season opener in Mooloolaba. Andrea Hewitt and Nicky Samuels will dual again, vying for Olympic selection. Hewitt pulled ahead of Samuels in the race for Beijing after finishing as the top Kiwi in Mooloolaba last weekend, a designated Olympic qualifier for Triathlon New Zealand. A large Austrian contingent that includes Olympic gold medalist Kate Allen is expected to make the trip as New Plymouth is a designated Olympic qualifier for the Austrians.

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March 30, 2008

Race Report: Javier Gomez starts 2008 with a Mooloolaba win

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From Inside Triathlon By Timothy Carlson - IT Senior Correspondent... Javier Gomez of Spain emphatically re-staked his claim as the top Olympic style triathlete in the world with a definitive 24-second win over runner-up Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia and a 34-seconds margin over 2006 ITU World Champion Tim Don of Great Britain in the hotly contested Mooloolaba BG World Cup. Gomez emerged from a 64-man bike pack in an 11-man duel for the first of four 2.5 kilometer laps of the run. Halfway through the 10km run, Gomez and Australia’s Brad Kahlefeldt broke free of a high-quality pack that included Don, Great Britain’s emerging star Oliver Freeman, New Zealand’s 2004 ITU World Champion Bevan Docherty, Australia’s newcomer Brendan Sexton, Canada’s Paul Tichelaar, Australia’s 2004 Olympian Simon Thompson, and 2004 Olympian and 2007 Life Time Fitness series king Greg Bennett of Australia. By the end of the third lap, Gomez broke off alone on his way to a 30:29 run that was 28 seconds faster than Kahlefeldt’s effort and put the Spaniard at the finish in 1:49:50. The Mooloolaba win marked Gomez’s 14th straight ITU World Cup podium finish, a mark almost as remarkable as Fernandes’s 12-win streak, given the greater depth and strength of the current men’s World Cup fields. Gomez overcame a poor, 24th place swim and an early crash on the bike. "I had a horrible swim, probably the worst of my life," Gomez told ITU media at the finish. "On the second lap of the run, I tried to break away but Brad (Kahlefeldt) came with me. On the third lap, I tried with all my (passion) and got away. It's so special to win here in Australia. I was close last year, but Brad beat me." Kahlefeldt paid tribute to Gomez in a post race interview with ITU media. "I attacked at the hill (at the 5km turnaround) and I felt pretty good. But he countered at the top and he kept going and going. I gave it my all." Read More »
March 28, 2008

2008 BG Triathlon World Cup season kickoff: Mooloolaba Preview

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From the ITU site…

Strap yourselves in and get set. The 2008 BG Triathlon World Cup series kicks off this weekend on Australia’s Sunshine Coast. More than 150 elite athletes from 38 countries will sprint into Mooloolaba’s beach, officially signaling the start of the 2008 season. Elite women start at 11:05am on Sunday morning and men at 1:40pm (all times UTC/GMT +10).

In the women’s field, all eyes will be on reigning world champion Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal and her continued assault on triathlon history. A win in Mooloolaba would make her number one amongst all-time world cup winners, surpassing Australian great Emma Carney who will be in Mooloolaba to see first hand if her record will or won’t fall. Not only would Fernandes become the first triathlete to reach the 20-win plateau, she will also become the first to win at least one world cup in six consecutive years.

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October 1, 2007

Aussie Olympic spots named today

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snowsill21.jpgEmma Snowsill, Brad Kahlefeldt and Courtney Atkinson landed early nomination status today from Triathlon Australia for the Beijing Olympics. Their final selection for the Games will be subject to form, fitness and health.

On the same course for the upcoming Olympic Games Triathlon, last month Snowsill took a Silver medal behind Vanessa Fernandes. Presuming she stays healthy, his will mark her first Olympic appearance. (She was also selected for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but didn’t compete). At the same event, Atkinson also took second in the men’s race.

Her string of victories goes on and on…She won the open elite womens ‘ITU World Championship’ held in Gamagori Japan in 2005. She’s also won the Chicago Triathlon, City of Los Angeles Triathlon, Greater London Triathlon, Nossa Triathlon and multiple World Cup events.

This will also be the first Olympic appearance for Kahlefeldt and Atkinson.