ITU Media
Release –December 3, 2003
Triathlon’s
Big Event of the Year –2003 ITU Triathlon World Championships
6, 7 December, 2003– Queenstown, New Zealand
Elite Women, December 7 –13:00 (local time); Midnight Dec 5(GMT) Elite
Men –15:30 (local time), 2:30 am (GMT)
2003 has been among the most exciting years for triathlon
to date. There have been several new
athletes on top of the podium in the ITU World Cup events and all are looking
towards the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The Age Group and Junior World
Championship will take place on Saturday, December 6; The Under 23 and Elite
Races take place on Sunday, December 7.
The elite women’s event should
prove a tight contest and a true display of triathlon’s best. Barb Lindquist (USA) who has held the top
spot in the World Rankings for the entire season will be looking for her first
World Championship title, she was second to Great Britain’s Leanda Cave in
2002. Barb is the top ranked athlete in
the world but has plenty of company at the top. The second and third ranked women in the world, Sheila Taormina
and Laura Reback, also hail from the United States. Sheila Taormina has been consistently strong this year with a
World Cup win and three podium finishes this year. Laura Reback has raced less than the top two ranked women in 2003
but has managed two World Cup victories.
The American women will face
tough competition from their northern neighbours. Jill Savege and Carol Montgomery, ranked 4th and 5th
respectively, are the leaders of a strong and diverse Canadian team. Jill has had a World Cup win in her home
country this year and is consistently among the top five finishers in an
event. Carol is an experienced athlete,
commonly regarded as the fastest runner on the circuit who has placed in the
top ten of 5 past ITU Triathlon World Championships. The woman who came on
strong midway through the season this year – Anja Dittmer (GER) has the most
2003 World Cup victories to her credit having won three, almost in a row, and
is the 6th ranked athlete.
The Australians, always strong in triathlon, are led by the Queen of
Triathlon – Michellie Jones. Michellie
has a history of finding her way to the podium in the World Championships and
has held the top position twice.
Michellie has finished in the top 5 in the World Championships a remarkable
9 times. Young, upcoming Australian
athletes Liz Blatchford and Emma Snowsill, ranked 11th and 23rd,
have had World Cup victories in 2003 and will be looking to make their mark in
the World Championships. The only
athlete among the top ten ranked in the world who is absent from the start list
is Australia’s Loretta Harrop. Kathleen
Smet (BEL) and Carla Moreno (BRA) round out the top ten and race favourites.
In the men’s event –
Australia’s Greg Bennett has held the top spot in the world rankings for the
entire season and will want to improve on his 4th place World
Championship finish from 2002.
Unfortunately the man who has climbed the rankings to finish the season
in second position – Vlodomyr Polikarpenko (UKR) is absent from the start list
of the World Championships – however; Greg will still have plenty of
competition
Great Britain’s Andrew Johns
who is currently ranked third in the world has two 2003 World Cup victories to
his credit. Andrew was third in the 2002 ITU World Championship. New Zealand team mates Bevan Docherty –
ranked 4th in the world and Craig Watson, ranked 6th in
the world, will have the home country advantage and it is guaranteed the
enthusiastic New Zealand fans will be watching for them. The current reigning World Champion, Ivan
Rana of Spain, often performs well in the big events and will be looking to
repeat his 2002 performance.
Australia’s Chris Hill, ranked 5th in the world, is another
strong contender – he has raced less towards the end of 2003 following some
good results early in the season.
There is a prize purse of
$190,000 USD up for grabs. Athletes
will be completing a 1 lap, 1500 m swim; 7 lap, 40 km bike with two hills per
lap; and 4 lap , 10 km run . Don’t
miss the live coverage on www.triathlon.org
- beginning December 7th at 13:00 local time.
For more information contact:
ITU Headquarters; Email: ituhdq@triathlon.org
Phone: 1-604-926-7250 Fax:
1-604-926-7260