| ITU Media Release, 9 July 2003 |
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Triathletes
Return to Edmonton, Canada for Next Stop on the ITU World Cup
Series
Coming this weekend, one of the highlight events of the ITU World Cup Series – the Edmonton ITU Triathlon World Cup. Edmonton played host to the ITU Triathlon World Championships in 2001 and the event was rated as the best ever. The event has since become a stop on the World Cup circuit and the start list for the 2003 edition of the event is star studded. The event also features a new bike course.
In the women’s event seven of the top ten World ranked athletes will be on the start line. The American women continue to top the World Rankings and are strong favorites for the win. Barb Lindquist took a break from the last few ITU World Cup events but will be racing in Edmonton, She continues to hold onto the first place World Ranking that she has held for more than 100 days. Laura Reback (USA) currently ranked second is strong following wins in two ITU World Cup events (St. Anthony’s and Tongyeong ITU World Cup Events). Laura will also be a favourite with the Edmonton crowd because she has a Canadian connection – she, along with boyfriend Greg Bennett from Australia, train out of the Canadian Triathlon Training Centre in Victoria. Sheila Taormina, currently ranked 5th in the world is the third American woman in contention for the podium.
The strong Canadian Team – led by Jill Savege will be hoping the large crowds generally seen at the Edmonton event will be buoying them to podium positions. Jill has just moved into third place in the ITU World Rankings, and is training well with her new coach – Siri Lindley (USA). Siri is still ranked among the top ten women in the world although she retired at the end of the 2002 season. Vetran Canadian athletes Sharon Donnelly, currently ranked 11th in the world, and Carol Montgomery, currently ranked 23rd have raced many times on the Edmonton course and will be looking for good results.
Liz Blatchford (AUS) – ranked 7th, Kathleen Smet (BEL) – ranked 8th and Sandra Soldan (BRA) –ranked 10th round out the other top ten ranked women who will be racing.
The women’s race in Edmonton could be a battle among North American athletes but the expectation for the men’s event will be a race amongst athletes from the Oceania region.
Australians Greg Bennett and Chris Hill, currently ranked first and second respectively continue to be the men’s story of 2003. Both Greg and Chris have had World Cup wins in 2003 and both have held the top spot in the rankings this year. Edmonton will be another important race to determine who will be the most dominant of the men this year. Bevan Docherty, currently ranked 5th and Hamish Carter, currently ranked 10th both from New Zealand can be expected to provide tough competition for the Australians.
Canadian Olympic Gold Medallist Simon Whitfield, currently ranked 16th, is the defending Edmonton World Cup Champion. He is also a hero in Edmonton and the crowd will be behind him 100%. Martin Krnavek (CZE), currently ranked 11th and Leandro Macedo (BRA), currently ranked 14th are both racing well and could become a factor in the race.
Tune into www.triathlon.org for Complete Live Event Coverage. Live Coverage begins at 1:30 pm local time, (19:30 GMT)
For more information contact ITU Headquarters: Email: ituhdq@triathlon.org Phone: 1.604.926.7550 Fax: 1.604.926-7260 ITU Media Manager: Lisa Ogilvie: lisa@triathlon.org |