9
June 2002
HARROP
AND BENNETT MAKE IT A CLEAN SWEEP FOR AUSTRALIA
It's
was a perfect day for Triathlon in Gamagori; brilliant
sunshine with a stiff breeze off the sea. A spectacular
triathlon for the children of Gamagori started the
day, as the stadium began to fill. The energetic crowd
of 15,000 enjoyed the action on the field of play
and also on the gigantic big screen.
In
the women's event Laura Reback (USA) and Sheila Taormina
(USA) led through the 2 lap 1500 metre swim, with
American teammate Barb Lindquist clinging to their
toes. Aussie favourites Loretta Harrop and Nicole
Hackett were some distance back in 7th and 8th position,
but managed to take advantage of a fast transition
to join the trio at the start of the bike leg.
On
the first of the 7-lap bike, a group of 6 formed at
the front, including Americans Sheila Taormina, Barb
Lindquist, Becky Gibbs and Laura Reback, and Aussies
Loretta Harrop and Nicole Hackett. The chase group
was very splintered at the beginning and by the time
they got organised they were 30 seconds back.
At
the half way point on the bike, Sheila Taormina and
Loretta Harrop had taken charge of the lead pack,
which still included Nicole Hackett, Laura Reback
and Barb Lindquist. A serious chase pack about 1 minute
30 seconds back at this point was being organised
by the Olympic Champion Bridgette McMahon of Switzerland.
Becky Gibbs, who exited the swim with the leaders,
dropped off the pace and was swallowed by the chase
pack. Other notables in this pack were Aussie teammates
Anabelle Luxford, Melissa Ashton and Pip Taylor, as
well as the Brazilian running specialist Carlo Moreno
and the new Russian star Olga Generalova.
The
second chase pack organised themselves around Carol
Montgomery of Canada, but was never able to get organised
and soon dropped back by over 3 minutes.
By
the end of the bike leg, the group of 5 at the front
had increased their lead to 2 minutes over the chase
pack. Laura Reback was first off the bike and onto
the run course, followed closely by Loretta Harrop
and Sheila Taormina. The chase pack entered transition
2 minutes 30 seconds behind the leaders, with Pip
Taylor and Melissa Ashton leading the way through
transition
Loretta
Harrop soon began to push the pace and for the first
lap, Barb Lindquist was able to velcro herself to
her shoulder. Sheila Taormina seemed to struggle and
soon dropped off the pace set by Harrop.
With
one lap to go, Loretta Harrop powered her way to a
20 second lead over Barb Lindquist, and looked very
comfortable as she passed in front of the stadium
on her final lap. Sheila Taormina and Nicole Hackett
seemed to be repeating their place finish from the
Ishigaki World Cup, until Hackett dropped the hammer
and not only surged away from Taormina, but passed
Lindquist as well. Laura Reback, who paid the price
of her early surges on the run, managed to hang on
for 5th place.
In
the men's event, Japanese swimming ace, Tsukasa Hirano
set a brutal pace at the front, with almost 40 men
on his heels, including the 2001 World Ranked #1,
Chris Hill of Australia. The swimming ability of the
men has reached such a consistently high standard,
that the group stayed together for the entire 1.5km
swim, and blew through transition like a monsoon off
the Sea of Japan.
Brave
hearts took over the bike as a group of 4 was organised
by Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Bryce Quirk of
Australia, and also included American team-mates Hunter
Kemper and Brian Fleischmann. This group powered away
from the main pack through the flat but highly technical
course, and provided wonderful entertainment for the
spectators.
By
the bike to run transition, the quartet had a one-minute
lead on the chase group which included all of the
favourites such as 2001 World Champion, Peter Robertson,
former World #1 ranked Hamish Carter and Spanish star
Ivan Rana.
Docherty
and Quirk exploded from the transition onto the 10km
run course and ran shoulder to shoulder for the first
5km. Tactically, this surge proved to be too early,
as a large group of talented runners started moving
though the field, including Chris Hill, Ivan Rana,
Kris Gemmell and Dimitry Gaag of Kazahkstan. At this
point, Greg Bennett of Australia was having a consistent
race in the chase pack, but appeared too far back
to catch the leaders.
Shortly
after the mid-way point, Greg Bennett picked up the
pace and with a brilliantly planned finale, surged
through the field and took over the lead and finished
almost 20 seconds ahead of Docherty who held on for
second. Chris Hill of Australia was third. Until today,
Bennett, who has raced in Japan more than any other
athlete had never won a World Cup event here. Much
to the delight of his many Japanese fans, it was his
day on the top of the podium.
Lots
of live video and complete results on www.triathlon.org
Top
10 results: Elite Women
1. Harrop, Loretta, AUS 1.57.55
2. Hackett, Nicole, AUS 1.58.35
3. Lindquist, Barbara, USA 1.58.40
4. Taormina, Sheila, USA 1.59.21
5. Reback, Laura, USA 2.00.53
6. Moreno, Carla, BRA 2.01.32
7. Ashton, Melissa, AUS 2.01.42
8. Generalova, Olga, RUS 2.01.58
9. Anisimova, Nina, RUS 2.02.13
10. Blatchford, Liz, AUS 2.02.20
Top 10 results: Elite Men
1. Bennett, Greg, AUS 1.49.30
2. Docherty, Bevan, NZL 1.50.00
3. Hill, Chris, AUS 1.50.13
4. Quirk, Byrce, AUS 1.50.19
5. Gemmel, Kris, NZL 1.50.29
6. Rana, Ivan, ESP 1.50.36
7. Moreira, Juraci, BRA 1.50.36
8. Gaag, Dimitry, KAZ 1.51.07
9. Kemper, Hunter, USA 1.51.07
10. Brocard, Didier, SUI 1.51.25
