| ITU
Media Release: 6 September 2003 – For immediate release Anja Dittmer Wins Hamburg ITU World Cup |
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| Hamburg,
Germany: Anja Dittmer, the topped ranked
German athletes, drank in the energy from the thousands of Hamburgers
who lined the course to take her second World Cup win of the season. The event began with a picture perfect dive start into Lake Alster in the middle of Hamburg, with the streets filled with thousand of local spectators. Julie Diben from Britain moved to the front for the 2 lap 1500m swim, followed by Lucie Zelenkova of the Czech Republic and Joelle Franzmann of Germany. It was Tereza Macel, racing under the ITU flag while a country of residence issue is resolved, who was first out of the swim and through transition. Dittmer held a good position through the swim to exit in 5th place, then joined up with 20 other women as the lead group for the 8-lap 40km cycle section. Italian teammates, Silvia Gemignani, Nadia Cortassa and Giunia Chenevier, went to work at the front of the lead pack in an effort to pull away from the chase pack led by Emma Carney of Australia and Beatrice Lanza of Italy, which was just over a minute back after the swim. But is was not enough to hold off the chase group with a powerful Emma Carney at the front reeling in the leaders, and their lead slowly evaporated. By the end of the bike the two groups had joined together and stormed through transition with the energy of a hurricane. Anja Dittmer maintained her position in the lead group and was 4th onto the run course, which sent a thunder of applause and cheers through the streets of Hamburg. As the 3-lap 10km run settled down, a group of 6 emerged as the podium contenders along with Dittmer: the Australian-born Kate Allen, who has been living in Austria for the last 3 years, Nadia Cortassa and Beatrice Lanza, the Italian teammates who have been making a name for themselves this year, Michelle Dillon of Britain, the perennial favourite and Scotland's Stephanie Forrester, having her first strong performance since the Sydney Olympic Games. In the end, it was Kate Allen who had the race of her life forcing a showdown with Dittmer over the final lap and into the finish. But on this day the energy from the crowd gave Dittmer that extra nudge to take the win by a 3 second sliver of time over Allen. Nadia Cortassa was 3rd a further 9 seconds back.Anja Dittmer's win couldn't have been a more perfect ending for the thousands of enthusiastic fans who lined the course, and for Anja's road to Athens 2004! Top 10 results are:
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