ITU Media Release: 9 November 2003 |
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Carla Morena Wins Rio World Cup Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 9 November 2003: For immediate
Release: The Brazilian trio of Sandra Soldan, Mariana Ohata and
Carla Morena teamed up from the start of the Rio ITU World Cup Triathlon at
the famous Copacabaña Beach. The Brazilian women led through the entire 2-lap 1500 metre swim with Portugal’s Vanessa Fernanda and Amanda Stevens of the USA a short distance back. Stevens
led through the first transition and onto the 8-lap 40km bike course, but the
separation was not enough to get away and a large group of 24 quickly formed
at the front. This pack also included
a strong group of Canadians; Carol Montgomery, Sharon Donnelly, Samantha
McGlone and last weekend’s Cancun World Cup winner Natasha Filliol. Austria’s Eva Brambock, Hungary’s Andrea
Walko and Zita Szabo and France’s Stephanie Gros and Marion Lorblanchet were
also at the front with the leaders. The lead group settled down on the bike and worked well together, edging ahead of the chase pack on each lap. By the midway point, the chase group led by Hungary’s Nora Edosceny was back 1 minute. In the latter stages of the bike, the chase group made up some time on the leaders and entered the bike to run transition with a 40 second deficit on the leaders. Carla Morena of Brazil dazzled the home-country fans by sweeping through transition first onto the 4 lap, 10km run as Vanessa Fernandez was left behind in transition. On the first lap, Fernandez made up lost time and with Carol Montgomery moved to the front with Morena. Montgomery appeared poised to repeat the World Cup victory that she won here in 2000, however it was not to be. The
trio dropped all challengers and as they entered the final lap there was
little doubt about who would be on the podium – all three!. Carla Morena, soaking up the energy from the huge crowd that lined the course, pulled away from Montgomery on the last lap, determined not to disappoint her home-country fans. The deafening noise from the crowd lingered in the air as Morena captured her first World Cup victory and the adoration of everyone at the event. Carol Montgomery posted her second 2nd place finish of the season, 50 seconds back, with Vanessa Fernandez 3rd. Top 10 Women:
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