119 Days to go.....
ITU News
Update - April 28, 2004
2004 ITU World Championship - Now Just Days Away
The countdown
is on - we are now just days away from the start of the many activities
surrounding the 2004 ITU World Championship.
Operating centres, welcome booths and more will all open on Monday, May
3. The first big race of the event, the Aquathlon, is coming up quickly
on Wednesday, May 5.
The
Olympic Connection in Madeira
With the Athens Olympic Games rapidly approaching, every ITU World Cup
event is cause for speculation about who has the potential to become the
next Olympic Champion. However, the 2004 Madeira ITU World Championships
is the event with the greatest potential to predict who may preform well
in Athens. Several athletes competing in Madeira have already earned a
spot on the start line at the Olympic Games and many countries will be
carefully considering the results in Madeira when completing their Olympic
selections.
The
top three women in the ITU World Rankings all hail from the United States
and will all be competing in Maderia. Barb Lindquist, currently ranked
number 1, has already qualified for the Athens Olympic Games. Sheila Taormina
and Laura Reback are the top contenders for the spot on the American Olympic
team that is up for grabs in Madeira.
Home country favourite, Vanessa Fernandes (POR), won the European Championships two weekends ago, earning her a spot on the team travelling to Athens. Vanessa will be a favourite amoung the Portuguese fans . All three members of the Australian Olympic team; Loretta Harrop, Maxine Seear and Rina Hill will be competing in Madeira. Samantha Warriner, a member of the New Zealand Olympic team will also be on the start line. Winners of both the Asian and the African Championships, who earned a position for Athens in their regional qualifying events, will also be in attendence - Akiko Sekine (JPN) and Megan Hall (RSA).
On the men's side - Australian Olympic bound athletes; Greg Bennett, Peter Robertson and Simon Thompson will all be competing in Madeira as will New Zealand's Olympic team comprised of Bevan Docherty, Hamish Carter and Nathan Richmond. American Hunter Kemper has qualified for Athens and was looking strong in Honolulu at the qualifying event and last weekend in the Mazatlan ITU World Cup. Dimity Gaag (KAZ) , Conrad Stoltz (RSA) and Rasmus Henning (DEN) all qualified in their respective Regional Championships and all will be in Madeira.
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Nancy Alvarez (ARG) the top ranked woman in the event, 29th in last weekend's
Mazatlan World Cup, will be looking to beat home country favourites Fiorella
D'croz and Carmenza Morales. Carmenza was the winner of the event last
year.
In the men's event - Gilberto Gonzalez (VEN), former Pan American Games Gold Medallist will face tough competition from Daniel Lee Chi Wo (HKG) - 16th in the Ishigaki ITU World Cup a few weeks ago.
Complete start lists are now available on www.triathlon.org
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© www.triathlon.org 2004