Densham and Justus top the podium at Sydney
Tremblay leads the Canadians by placing eighth.
Australia’s Erin Densham and Germany’s Steffen Justus took victories at the ITU World Triathlon Series race in Sydney, Australia.
The women’s race kicked off the day’s racing and it all came down to the final 10 km run where Densham, Helen Jenkins (GBR) and Andrea Hewitt (NZL) made it a three woman battle by the halfway mark. In the final kilometre, Densham found an extra gear and outran Jenkins for the win on home soil (2:01:29). Jenkins followed nine seconds later (2:01:38), with Hewitt taking third (2:01:45). Montreal’s Kathy Tremblay ran her way into eighth (2:02:34) to fulfill one of the requirements to be selected onto the Canadian Olympic Triathlon Team for London 2012. Vancouver’s Lauren Campbell finished 24th (2:03:28).
The men’s race saw a two-man breakaway on the bike (Russia’s Ivan Vasiliev and New Zealand’s James Elvery) take a close to one-minute lead onto the run. However, Justus, Richard Murray (RSA) and Laurent Vidal (FRA) chased them down with 4 km to go. Justus looked the strongest of the three and roared to the front, a position he would not surrender. His 30:50 10 km run split led the day and earned him his first major win in the ITU series (1:51:04). Murray had the race of his life to claim second (1:51:13), and Vidal took third (1:51:15). Victoria’s Kyle Jones battled his way to 13th (1:52:03), while Simon Whitfield finished 18th (1:52:20), and Brent McMahon 20th (1:52:22).
2012 Olympic Team Selection Policy.
Women
1. ERIN DENSHAM AUS 02:01:29
2. HELEN JENKINS GBR + 00:09
3. ANDREA HEWITT NZL + 00:16
4. GWEN JORGENSEN USA + 00:42
5. NICOLA SPIRIG SUI + 00:50
6. AINHOA MURUA ESP + 00:57
7. ANNE HAUG GER + 01:03
8. KATHY TREMBLAY CAN + 01:05
9. MARIKO ADACHI JPN + 01:09
10. ASHLEIGH GENTLE AUS + 01:10
24. LAUREN CAMPBELL CAN + 02:00
DNF SARAH-ANNE BRAULT CAN
Men
1. STEFFEN JUSTUS GER 01:51:04
2. RICHARD MURRAY RSA + 00:07
3. LAURENT VIDAL FRA + 00:10
4. DAVID HAUSS FRA + 00:24
5. ALEXANDER BRYUKHANKOV RUS + 00:26
6. IVAN VASILIEV RUS + 00:29
7. KRIS GEMMELL NZL + 00:37
8. WILLIAM CLARKE GBR + 00:38
9. DMITRY POLYANSKY RUS + 00:43
10. JARROD SHOEMAKER USA + 00:46
13. KYLE JONES CAN + 00:58
18. SIMON WHITFIELD CAN + 01:14
20. BRENT MCMAHON CAN + 01:16
DNF ANDREW RUSSELL CAN
