Triathlon Daily

Wheaties Honors Triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker

Jarrod Shoemaker is being honored by Wheaties, “The Breakfast of Champions,” with a new, limited-edition package featuring the 25-year old triathlete from Sudbury, Mass. The Breakfast of Champions(R) continues its tradition of honoring elite athletes and celebrates Shoemaker’s outstanding triathlon achievements, adding yet another honor to his impressive list of accomplishments.

Shoemaker is a fierce competitor and credits his amazing success in triathlon to a combination of raw talent and personal drive. He turned professional after competing in just four triathlons in 2003. Within two years Jarrod had won the Under 23 Nationals and World Championship. He qualified for the USA Triathlon’s National Elite Team in 2006 and has racked up nine top 10 finishes in the past two years. In the fall of 2007 Shoemaker completed an even more amazing feat by becoming the first member of the USA Triathlon Men’s Team competing in the games in Beijing this summer. Now his sights are set on the Hy-Vee ITU World Cup in Des Moines, Iowa this June - the largest prize purse in professional triathlon competition.

Shoemaker was a runner while attending Dartmouth College and credits his time on the track team for teaching him what it takes to be a top athlete. During his last two seasons of college, Jarrod added riding and swimming to his work-out regimen and when he graduated in 2004, he left his running career and began to focus on the triathlon. Excellence in all three triathlon events - swimming, cycling, and running - has made Shoemaker one of the most well-rounded athletes in the sport.

“It’s a great honor for me to be on the cover of the Wheaties box and to join the remarkable list of great athletes who have appeared on the package,” Shoemaker said. “Every athlete dreams about one day seeing themselves on the cover of the ‘Breakfast of Champions’ package.”

“He is truly one of the brightest stars in the triathlon today, and the sky is the limit for how good he can become,” said Dan Stangler, Wheaties marketing. “His addition to the Wheaties family continues our rich tradition of honoring great athletes.”

The new 15.6-ounce Wheaties package is now available regionally in Iowa and Boston. This marks the first time Shoemaker has appeared on a Wheaties box, and the second time a triathlete has appeared. Hunter Kemper was featured on the box in 2007.

Race Preview: 2008 Olympic Triathlon Trials - Tuscaloosa

from usatriathlon.org…

Twenty-one of the top triathletes in the country are ready to toe the line and compete for two Olympic team spots – one for a U.S. man and one for an American woman – at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The women’s race starts at noon while the men’s race begins at 2:30 p.m.

The winners of the men’s and women’s races will join previous qualifiers Jarrod Shoemaker (Sudbury, Mass.) and Laura Bennett (N. Palm Beach, Fla. / Boulder, Colo.) on the Beijing-bound U.S. team. The final male and female Olympic team members will be determined after the Hy-Vee Triathlon on June 22 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Andy Potts (Princeton, N.J. / Colorado Springs, Colo.), who was on the 2004 Olympic team in Athens and finished 2007 as the second-ranked U.S. man in the world, discussed the Olympic Trials experience.

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