St.
Petersburg, Florida, USA: With a picture perfect start
the elite women hit the water at 12noon under perfect
racing conditions - slightly cloudy skies, a gentle
breeze and an air temperature of 37°Celsius. The
water in Tampa Bay was a balmy 28°Celsius so wetsuits
were not allowed for the 1500metre, 2-lap swim.
The
US women's team quickly began to dominate through
the first leg of the race with former US Olympic team
swimmer (and Atlanta Games gold medallist) Sheila
Taormina in the lead. Teammate and fellow swim specialist,
Barb Lindquist, followed closely by Laura Reback (also
of from the US) were hot on her heels with Canada's
Sharon Donnelly the lone non-US athlete in the lead
group.
Heading
into transition one, Taormina and Lindquist held onto
their lead followed by Reback and two more US athletes,
Becky Gibbs and Joanna Zeiger. Team USA was not in
the clear however as their lead amounted to only 10secs
over the chase pack, including last years' winner,
Carol Montgomery (CAN) and perennial favorite, Michellie
Jones (AUS) - whose speedy transition quickly catapulted
her to the front of the field.
Out
on the technical 8-lap, 40km cycle section - a lead
group of five quickly formed, including Jones, Taormina,
Lindquist, Reback and Zeiger. In pursuit was a chase
pack of 16 riders including many top contenders like
Montgomery, Anja Dittmer from Germany and Brazilian
teammates, Mariana Ohata, Sandra Soldan and Carla
Moreno. Midway through the bike, Susan Williams (USA)
made a break from the chase pack in an attempt to
bridge the gap to the leaders - whose lead had grown
to 1min20secs by lap 4 - however the chasers, pulled
by Montgomery, quickly reeled her in and began the
arduous effort of chipping away at the distance between
them and the five out in front. By the end of the
40km bike, the leaders sped through transition with
a lead of 2mins10seconds on the chase pack - Jones
was first onto the run, followed by Taormina, then
Lindquist, Reback and Zeiger.
Out
on the 4-lap, 10km run leg, Jones used her running
prowess to continue building on her lead. Lindquist
and Taormina battled it out for second and third throughout
the run while spectacular runs from Carla Moreno and
Carol Montgomery quickly pulled tem to within contention,
despite starting out the run over 2mins down. At the
line it was Jones first in 2:01:56, with Taormina
out sprinting Lindquist for 2nd - a flying Moreno
was fourth, Zeiger 5th and Montgomery 6th. Today's
victory marks Jones' first World Cup crown in 2002.
A third place finish for Barb Lindquist moves her
into first place overall in the ITU World Rankings,
ahead of fellow American, Siri Lindley.
With
temperatures and humidity on the rise, the men's race
got underway at 2:30pm. There was very little movement
during the first stage as the pack of 77 athletes
stayed closely knit together throughout the 1500m
swim. Richard Stannard (GBR) led into transition,
followed closely by teammate Simon Lessing, American
Joe Umphenour, Frenchman Frederic Belaubre and Martin
Krnavek from the Czech Republic.
Out
on the bike leg, a huge pack formed, consisting of
the early leaders and a large portion of the entire
field. This pack of some 41 riders stretched out but
remained together throughout the entire 40km cycle.
Several top athletes took a turn in the lead but no
one was able to break away from the ensuing pack.
Andrew Johns (GBR) led the pack into transition two
but it was Shane Reed (NZL) with a speedy transition
who led out onto the final 10km run leg.
During
the run, the heat and humidity began to take its toll
on many competitors as the field began to spread out.
Kiwi, Shane Reed seemed unaffected, however, as he
held onto his hard fought lead. In the later part
of the run, many early front-runners dropped off the
pace, while Reed continued to surge ahead and others,
better able to cope with the heat, worked their way
to the front. On the final lap, Sylvain Dodet (FRA)
took advantage of a fading Reed and moved into the
lead. Dodet crossed the line in 1:53:35 to claim the
first ITU World Cup victory of his career. Reed held
on for second place, while Australian, Greg Bennett,
had a strong run for third place. Aussie temmates,
Ritchie Cunningham and Brad Kahlefeldt sprinted to
the line for 4th and 5th respectively.
The
2002 ITU World Cup series heads to Ishigaki Island
in Japan for round three on May 19th.
Complete
Results: Women
- Men
