Canadian success in Denmark
Four World Champions, many top 10 performances, a number of personal bests and a whole lot of fun
From July 6th to the 14th, 200 plus Canadian multisport athletes jumped on a plane and competed at the ITU World Multisport Championships in Denmark. Over the week-long festival, six events took place, the duathlon, sprint duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon, aquabike and long course triathlon.
Over the course of the week, four Canadians became world champions, many others reached the podium, set personal bests and enjoyed the international festival. Here is a recap of the podium results from July 14th all the way back to July 6th.
Day Five – July 14th
The long course triathlon and aquabike took place on the final day of the ITU World Multisport Championships. The sole Canadian in the elite field was Frank Sorbara. Sorbara would finish 20th, completing the 3km swim, 120km bike and 30km run course in 5:56:06.
On day five Canada continued to add to their medal count with podium finishes in both the long course triathlon and aquabike.
In the long course triathlon, Claire Robinson finished second in the 20-24 women’s age group. Emily Taylor finished second in the women’s 25-29 age group. In the 65-69 age group, Jim Stewart would finish on the top step of the podium and Nancy Cole finished in third in the women’s division.
In the aquabike, Isaac Chung finished in third in the men’s 20-24 age group. He would be the sole Canadian to reach the podium in the aquabike discipline.
Team Canada continued their medal haul today with two bronze medals. The first came from Kamal Maghri in the 45-49 men’s age group. Then Petr Schmidt grabbed a podium finish in the 55-59 men’s age group.
Jackson Konkin was the sole elite triathlete competing in the Aquathlon from Canada. Konkin would finish 30th in the men’s elite race and eight in the junior category. The race was won Emmanuel Lejeune (BEL) in 27:46. He was closely followed by Nathan Breen (AUS) and Alexis Kardes (FRA).
18-year-old Tate Haugan is the new junior world cross triathlon champion. Earlier today, Haugan stormed to an early lead in the swim when came out of the water with a three-second gap over Oscar Gladney Rundqvist (DEN). On the bike, the Canadian stretched his lead over Rundqvist and the rest of the field to a minute thirty. In the trail run, Haugan continued to set a steady pace as he held off a late challenge by the Dane and claimed his first world title.
Haugan finished the junior cross triathlon in 1:07:32. Rundqvist would pull back some time in the run, finishing 30 seconds back. Victor Geone of the Netherlands finished in third.
Canada’s age group triathletes also had great success today. Many of our country’s best age groupers achieved top ten performances. Evan Girard had the top performance of the day, placing third in the men’s 25-29 age group.
Canada’s medal haul on day two was not as significant as day one, but that does not take away from the numerous top ten finishes and personal bests. Maureen Teixeira would be the sole Canadian to medal on Sunday, finishing second in the women’s 75-79 age group.
Matt Straatman the defending age group world champion, made it back to back victories, winning in the 25-29 age group. In the 60-64 age group, Margie Ritchie and Carolyn Silvey came first and second. Paul Huyer came second in the men’s division. Next to make the podium was Chris Schindler, who placed second in the 40-44 age group. Also in second, was Tara-Jay Lapstra. Then in the 20-24 age group, Xavier Girard came in third. Woody Paylor also took second, but in the men’s 75-79 age group.
In the elite men’s race, Andreas Schilling (DEN) won on home soil ahead of Yohan Le Berre (FRA) and Mark Buckingham (GBR). Canadians Jesse Bauer and Stefan Daniel finished in 39th and 42nd.
In the elite women’s race, Illes Sandrina (AUT) became the 2018 duathlon world champion, beating Ai Ueda (JPN) and Georgina Schwiening (GBR). Defending champion, Felicity Sheedy-Ryan came fourth. Canadian Melissa Paauwe came 20th.
