Whitfield who finished in 1:49:36 along with training
mate Greg Bennett (1:50.00) from Australia, and Nanaimo's
Stefan Jakobsen (1:51.56) rounded out the podium,
in front of 5,500 cheering fans at the spectacular
race.
Whitfield was a close second coming out of the water
with Bennett taking the lead. They were together on
the bike race until the fourth and final lap when
Whitfield took the lead. Bennett was never able to
overtake the Olympic Gold Medallist as Whitfield kept
a strong pace in the run and broke away after the
third lap.
"Victoria
put on a heck of a show on today," said Whitfield.
"I am so glad we were able to have all these
competitors here. It was a tremendous event for our
community. Greg didn't make it easy for me, he made
it tough until the very end."
In
the women's race, it was a clean sweep for the Americans
as Laura Reback finished first in a time of (2:03:58)
followed by Becky Gibbs in 2:04:57 and Sheila Taormina
in 2:05:20. Sheila, an Olympic gold medallist in swimming
(Atlanta 1996) and a triathlon Olympian, distinguished
herself at the Sydney Games by acknowledging the spectators
and bringing some spontaneous joy to the Games.
Reback
was third after the swim and second after the bike.
She was able to pull away in the run portion of the
race. The American is now training in Victoria at
the PacificSport National Triathlon Centre with Head
Coach Lance Watson.
"I love it here, the training is great,"
said Reback. "I didn't realize the bike course
was as hard as it was. I really enjoyed myself.
In
addition to the 70 elite athletes, over 350 age group
athletes contested the course.
The
ITU International Triathlon is a qualifying event
for the 2001 ITU World Championships in Edmonton,
Canada, through valuable points awarded towards the
ITU World Rankings.
The
PacificSport National Triathlon Centre is the newest
of six national sport centres at PacificSport - Greater
Victoria. It is a partnership of Triathlon Canada,
Triathlon BC and PacificSport - Greater Victoria.
