Kathleen
Smet Wins European Championships
A
large field of 58 women entered the 2 lap 1.5km swim
for the start of the 2002 European Championships,
as brilliant sunshine brought the thermometer soaring
to 31oC. Meanwhile, a huge crowd had gathered to line
the beach and the 7-lap - 40km bike course,spurred
on by the famous Hungarian announcer "Attila"
who can get a crowd revved up like no one else.
Lucie
Zelenkova of the Czech Republic led through the entire
swim section, followed closely by Olympic Champion
Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland and Anneliese Heard
of Great Britain. At the end of the swim, a pack of
12 riders organized themselves including Zelenkova,
McMahon, and Heard, as well as Kathleen Smet of Belgium,
Natalie Daumas of France and Leanda Cave of Great
Britain. Natalie Daumas pulled the pack through the
first 3 laps, which gave them a 1:15 minute lead on
the chase pack of 22. Ana Burgos of Spain, organized
the chase pack , but was not able to close the gap
on the leaders.
British
team-mates, Anneliese Heard and Leanda Cave led the
leaders into the bike to run transition, and were
the first onto the 10km run course.
Once
onto the run, Brigitte McMahon set a pace that demonstrated
she' back to the form that won her gold in Sydney.
Kathleen Smet and Leanda Cave were able to stay at
her shoulder through the first 3 laps when Brigitte
finally succumbed to pace and the heat. In the end
it was a sprint to the line between Leanda and Kathleen,
with the Belgium star taking it to the line with 3
seconds to spare. A second sprint finish happened
when Christiane Pilz of Germany took the final spot
on the podium over Russia's Nina Anisimova. Brigitte
McMahon was 5th, Lenka Radova from the Czech Republic
was 6th and Nathalie Daumas of France was 7th.
By
the end of the run, the crowd at grown to over 30,000
and were 4 to 5 deep long the entire course. ITU Technical
Director in Europe stated, "I have never seen
anything like it - just goes to show that the elite
women are now a great attraction for spectators.
The
newly elected ETU President, Marisol Casado was given
the honour of awarding the 2002 European Championship
medals.
The
Men's action gets underway on Saturday morning at
11:30 a.m. local time.
Top
10 results:
1. Smet, Kathleen, Belgium, 1.59.06
2. Cave, Leanda, Great Britain, 1.59.09
3. Pilz, Christianne, Germany, 1.59.25
4. Anisimova, Nina, Russia, 1.59.52
5. Radova, Lenka, Czech Republic, 1.59.54
6. McMahon, Brigitte, Switzerland, 1.59.54
7. Daumas, Natalie, France, 1.59.59
8. Cortassa, Italy, 2.00.02
9. Burgos, Ana, Spain, 2.00.08
10. Whitcombe, Andrea, Great Britain, 2.00.25
