Canada’s Kathy Tremblay Finishes 31st in Triathlon Grand Final
—Tyler Mislawchuk leads junior men with 19th-place finish—
BEIJING, China—Kathy Tremblay was the lone Canadian woman to finish the Grand Final of the ITU World Championship Series where she finished 31st on Sunday in Beijing.
The 29-year-old Montreal resident took advantage of a solid swim and bike on a difficult course in Beijing where she made her Olympic debut in 2008 to post her best result of the year, and a time of two hours, two minutes, 48 seconds (2:02:48).
“I was in the second chase pack on the bike and we tried to bridge the gap but those girls are so strong and were to hard to catch,” said Tremblay. “This is the first time all year that I have been able to come off a hard bike and have an aggressive run. I feel that it was a good kick in the butt for me.”
Andrea Hewitt, of New Zealand, and Britain’s Helen Jenkins pulled away from the field in the second of four laps on the 10-kilometre run. Hewitt dropped Jenkins coming into the stadium on the bell lap to win the Grand Final with a time of 1:58:26. Jenkins captured the silver medal at 1:58:40, which was good enough to secure her the Overall ITU World Championship Series title. Switzerland’s Melanie Annaheim rounded out the women’s podium in third at 1:58:58.
Edmonton’s Paula Findlay started the race, but pulled out early in the bike. Findlay has been battling the grind of endurance sport over the last two months while recovering from a hip injury. The five-time World Championship Series race winner will skip next week’s Yokohama, Japan event to head home for a rest period.
Meanwhile, Canada’s top junior men plunged into the water in the Changping District of Beijing for the final event of the Grand Final. Three Canadians – Winnipeg’s Tyler Mislawchuk; Quebec’s Francis Lefebvre and Marc-Antoine Christin, of Vaudreuil-Dorion Que. – came out of the 750-metre swim in the middle of the field, and worked well together in the chase pack of the 20-kilometre bike course. Tristan Woodfine, of Cobden, Ont., worked in the second chase group until the five-kilometre run where he advanced through the pack.
The 17-year-old Mislawchuk finished as the top Canadian with a 19th-place result at 57:55.
“The bike was much harder than I thought,” said Mislawchuk. “The hill doesn’t look like it would take that much out of you but by the end of that bike course my legs were just fried. I was just trashed.”
Lefebvre finished on histeammates heels in 20th (57:58); while Woodfine was 22nd (58:08). Christin rounded out the young Canadians in 26th (58:34).
Lukas Verzbicas of the United States shattered the field to win the junior men’s World Championship crown. Verzbicas clocked a time of 56:21. Germany’s Justus Nieschlag was second at 56:54, while Tony Smoragiewicz locked up the bronze with a time of 56:59.
Top-Five Women’s and Canadian Results;
1. Andrea Hewitt, NZL, 1:58:26; 2. Helen Jenkins, GBR, 1:58:40; 3. Melanie Annaheim, SUI, 1:58:58; 4. Lisa Norden, SWE, 1:59:00; 5. Laura Bennett, USA, 1:59:02.
Canadian Results:
31. Kathy Tremblay, Montreal, 2:02:48; DNF. Paula Findlay, Edmonton.
Top-Five Junior Men’s and Canadian Results:
1. Lukas Verzbicas, USA, 56:21; 2. Justus Nieschlag, GER, 56:54; 3. Tony Smoragiewicz, USA, 56:59; 4. Ron Darmon, ISR, 57:06; 5. Matt Brown, AUS, 57:11.
Canadian Results:
19. Tyler Mislawchuk, Winnipeg, 57:55; 20. Francis Lefebvre, Quebec, 57:58; 22. Tristan Woodfine, Cobden, Ont., 58:08; 26. Marc-Antoine Christin, Vaudreuil-Dorion Que., 58:34
Canadian Women Swarm Top-10 at Under-23 and Junior ITU Triathlon World Championships in Beijing
—Four Canadian women grab spots in top-10, all six place in top-15—
BEIJING, China—Canada’s future stars in women’s triathlon made a statement to the world they will be a force to reckon with well into the future after four stormed into the top-10 of the Junior and Under-23 ITU World Championship races in Beijing, China on Saturday.
Joanna Brown, of Carp, Ont., led a Canadian foursome in the junior women’s race that saw three athletes in the top-10, and all four Canucks cracking the top-15. The 18-year-old Brown finished sixth at 1:04:16, while Victoria’s Alison Hooper, 19, was eighth (1:04:27); and 19-year-old Christine Ridenour, of Cowichan Bay, B.C., finished ninth at 1:04:38. Calgary’s Ellen Pennock cracked the top-15 at 1:05:53.
A race filled with crashes on the slick and punishing 20-kilometre bike course with rain pelting down over the Changping district of Beijing, one-by-one the Canadian contingent crossed the finish line bearing a resemblance to an ultimate fighter in a cage match: bloodied, bruised and scratched.
“That was definitely one of the most difficult bike courses we have done and by the third loop you just wished it was over,” said Brown, who was sporting a banged up wrist, scraped arms and a bruised and bloodied cheekbone after crashing in each of her first two laps on the bike. “It has been a tough year for me mentally and physically with injuries and weird circumstances. I wanted to finish off really well with this race and I think given the circumstances, I did a great job."
After completing the 750-metre swim in the Shisanling Reservoir in the front half of the pack, Brown, Hooper and Ridenour executed their tactics perfectly to bridge the gap on the lead group of four athletes by the second of three loops despite Brown’s mishaps on the bike.
Hooper, who finished sixth at the 2009 World Juniors, led the field out of the second transition onto the five-kilometre run. The fearless pint-sized Canuck took on the world’s heavyweights to post another solid international result.
“To have three in the top-10 is so awesome,” said Hooper. “We all communicated so well on the bike and I think that made a big difference today.”
Ridenour, who represented Canada at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, also took advantage of a solid swim and great bike to run her way into the top-10.
“This is definitely great to have three Canadians in the top-10,” said Ridenour. “Hopefully this will show the world that Canada has a strong development program and that we have a bright future ahead of us.”
While there was no maple leaf hanging above the podium, the story of the day in the junior women’s race may have come from Canada’s 18-year-old World Junior rookie, Ellen Pennock, who showed the world she is one of the fastest runners on the planet for her age group.
Competing in triathlon for just the last two years, Pennock battled through two intense crashes on the bike. With both sides of her body covered in road rash, the enthusiastic Canuck posted the fastest run time of the day by nearly 30 seconds after clocking a five-kilometre split of 17:12. Exiting the second transition in 32nd spot, Pennock blew past many of the top juniors in the world to finish strong in 15th place.
New Zealand’s Mikayla Nielsen, who won the gold medal with a time of 1:03:40, was the next fastest runner at 17:38. Only four athletes in the field of 54 broke the 18-minute mark.
Australia’s Ashlee Bailie finished second at 1:03:42, while Germany’s Hanna Philippin rounded out the junior women’s podium in third with a time of 1:03:47.
Meanwhile, Calgary’s 21-year-old twin sisters, Kyla and Alex Coates, both took on the challenging Beijing course and the world’s top triathletes under the age of 23 to finish 10th (2:08:08) and 12th (2:08:16) respectively over the 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike and 10-kilometre run.
Both Canadians were in the lead group of 10 until the final lap of the run. Kyla Coates was forced to serve a 15 second penalty before the completion of her race when her helmet landed outside of the bucket in the second transition.
Poland’s Agnieszka Jerzyk took the gold medal in the women’s under-23 division with a time of 2:07:07. Hungary’s Zsofia Kovacs captured the silver at 2:07:08, while Germany’s Rebecca Robisch was third (2:07:14).
The Grand Final of the ITU World Championship Series wraps up Sunday in Beijing with elite women and junior men’s races.
Top-Five Junior Women’s and Canadian Results:
1. Mikayla Nielsen, NZL, 1:03:40; 2. Ashlee Bailie, AUS, 1:03:42; 3. Hanna Phiippin, GER, 1:03:47; 4. Eszter Pap, HUN, 1:04:42; 5. Kelly Whitley, USA, 1:04:12.
Canadian Results:
6. Joanna Brown, Carp, Ont., 1:04:16; 8. Alison Hooper, Victoria, 1:04:27; 9. Christine Ridenour, Cowichan Bay, B.C., 1:04:38; 15. Ellen Pennock, Calgary, 1:05:53.
Top-Five Under-23 Women’s and Canadian Results:
1.Agnieszka Jerzyk, POL, 2:07:07; 2. Zsofia Kovacs, HUN, 2:07:08; 3. Rebecca Robisch, GER, 2:07:14; 4. Kaitlin Shiver, USA, 2:07:18; 5. Yuliya Yelistratova, UKR, 2:07:32
Canadian Results:
10. Alex Coates, Calgary, 2:08:08; 12. Kyla Coates, Victoria, 2:08:16
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