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Canada’s Melanie McQuaid wins cross triathlon world championships on home soil

August 24, 2017
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Melanie McQuaid became the first elite Canadian to win a world championship on home soil at the #Penticton2017 ITU Multisport World Championship this year, taking the elite women’s cross triathlon title yesterday.

McQuaid clocked 2:34:35 for the 1.5-km swim, 31-km bike and 8-km run.

After the event, she told TMC:

“I had a dream day where my body fired on all cylinders and I got completely immersed in how fun the race course was. Thanks to Kelly Guest and all of the young athletes I train with in Victoria for getting me fast and punchy for ITU racing ! I was absolutely pushed to my limits by Jacqui Slack and Ladina Buss on the day. Thanks to my training squad I swam right at the front. I had great legs on the bike.  Kurt Flaman designed an epic oldschool technical mountain bike course that highlighted the amazing Three Blind Mice trail network and I am sure every competitor will be talking for years about the “best course ever”.  Jenny Andrews created an astonishingly technical run with singletrack zigzagging through the cliffs that no one would expect to be right beside the Kettle Valley trail.  I was confident that my run would be there thanks to all of the work we did over the last 18 months while I was injured.   Thanks the city of Penticton, all of the volunteers and crazy fans in the forest, thanks Mike Brown for organizing the best Worlds ever, thanks to Christine Cogger for organizing everything for us on site, and now I am in panic rest mode but so excited to do it all over again on Sunday!”

McQuaid will race in the long course world championship alongside a star-studded field of other Canadian contenders on Sunday.