Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2008-08-20 02:48:44

(BEIJING, August 19) — German triathlete Jan Frodeno sprinted to break away from a group of heavy favorites in the last 50 meters of the 10km run and claim the gold medal in Men’s Triathlon, in a time of one hour, 48 minutes and 53 seconds on Tuesday, August 19.

Canadian Simon Whitfield took the silver medal five seconds behind, and New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty won the bronze medal 12 seconds back. Pre-race favorite Spaniard Gomez fell just short of the medals, finishing in fourth, 20 seconds behind Frodeno.

With 300 meters to go in the run, Frodeno was the leader of the group made of 2008 world champion Javier Francisco Gomez of Spain, Athens 2004 silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada. Whitfield opened up the sprint to test the hearts of his competition. Only Frodeno could respond. Docherty ran valiantly ahead of a fast fading Gomez.

“Previously this year I have lost all my races very closely in sprints,” Frodeno said of his dream-like turnaround. “And one thing that does is that it teaches you a lesson. So I learnt it for the right time I guess.”

Whitfield looked in control of the sprint, but Frodeno started to gain on him quickly. With 50 meters to go Frodeno had passed and dispensed with the Canadian who had nothing left.

“These three guys that were with me in the front, they are really the big three guys. I tried to focus and not read their names and kind of focus on my own race. When Simon went I knew it was going to be hard and I just had to fight and fight.”

The new Olympic champion was not on many people’s radar as a favorite for the race: “I knew I had form but internationally very few people even knew who I was,” Frodeno admitted. They will all surely know who he is now.

Updated: 2008-08-19 13:46:41

Jan Frodeno (C), Simon Whitfield (L) and Bevan Docherty (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Jan Frodeno of Germany won the gold medal in the Men’s Triathlon in one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds.

Simon Whitfield of Canada came second at one hour, 48 minutes and 58.47 seconds, and the bronze winner was Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, who finished in one hour, 49 minutes and 5.59 seconds.

Jan Frodeno heads for the finish line with Simon Whitfield. (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
Competitors take part in the cycling portion. (Photo credit: Harry How/Getty Images)
Competitors dive in for the swimming portion. (Photo credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Simon Agoston (R) of Austria and Duarte Marques of Portugal (Photo credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Updated: 2008-08-19 13:26:59

Frodeno celebrates crossing the finishline first. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 19)– With only 50 meters to go to the finish line, Jan Frodeno of Germany out-sprinted 2008 world champion Javier Francisco Gomez of Spain, Athens 2004 silver medallist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield to claim the gold in the Men’s Triathlon on Tuesday.

Gomez sped up 700 meters before the end to finish the race, but failed to break away from the leading group. Whitfield followed suit, but was caught by Frodeno, who kept the lead till the end. He clocked one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds. The German had no notable achievement in international tournaments on his resume previous to this Olympic win.

Whitfield came in second at one hour, 48 minutes and 58.47 seconds, and the bronze winner was Docherty, who finished in one hour, 49 minutes and 5.59 seconds.

New Zealand’s Shane Reed led the men out of the water at 18 minutes and 0.31 seconds. He was followed closely by Igor Sysoev of Russia and Frederic Belaubre of France. Belaubre is a three-time World Cup winner.

The 55 competitors then broke into a leader group of 43 and a chase group of the rest at the start of the first of six laps in the cycling leg. The leader group shape remained unchanged until lap four, when Axel Zeebroek of Belgium, Dirk Bockel of Luxembourg and Francisco Serrano of Mexico took off and built a 44-second lead on the chase group. The leader group was then further reduced to only two members, as Serrano failed to keep up. The lead was increased to 52 seconds when the cycling leg concluded.

Zeebroek and Bockel were soon caught up by the chase group, as the cycling portion cost them so much energy that they could not help but fall back in the run.

A group of five was at the head when the bell was rung to signal the final lap. Frodeno, Whitfield, Docherty, Gomez and Ivan Rana of Spain ran the final straightaway first. Rana did not survive the last sprint for gold and finished fifth, after compatriot Gomez.

Updated: 2008-08-18 22:06:03

Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 18) — Emma Snowsill of Australia won the gold medal in the Women’s Triathlon today with a commanding run that gave her a comfortable margin over pre-race favorite Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal.

The diminutive Snowsill set up her victory by staying with the top swimmers, placing herself in the leading pack on the bike leg and surging to the front 200 meters into the run to draw away with every step and win in a time of 1:58:27.66.

“When you start racing, you never want it to come down to a running race, but it did today,” said Snowsill. Snowsill will gain great satisfaction from this dominant performance after finishing second to Fernandes at the 2007 World Championships.

The 23-year-old Fernandes, who was the first woman to win 20 World Cup events, was unable to run Snowsill down in the final leg, but finished strongly to claim the silver medal 1:06.97 behind the Australian in a time of 1:59:34.63.

In a great day for the Australians, Emma Moffatt came in 21 seconds after Fernandes to claim the bronze medal in 1:59:55.84. Moffatt set up her performance with the fastest bike leg and consolidated this with the second fastest run to hold off Laura Bennett of the United States.

Strong swimmer Bennett led the pack out of the 1500m swim and into the first transition. Race favorites Fernandes and Snowsill emerged from the swim leg fifth and ninth respectively, Snowsill was only 1.47 seconds back from Bennett.

A pack of 20 riders were led out by Bennett, Snowsill and Fernandes and stayed bunched together throughout the six laps of the bike course. The pack was led for much of the last three laps by the Swiss pair Daniela Ryf and bike specialist Nicola Spirig who joined the leading group from the chasing pack. Snowsill, Ryf, Spirig and Moffatt led the field into the transition.

New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt led the women out of the transition and into the four-lap run followed closely by Snowsill. Within a few hundred meters Snowsill had dropped Hewitt back to the following group of Bennett, Fernandes and Moffatt. She stayed out on her own and was unchallenged to the line.

Athens 2004 gold medalist Katherine Allen of Austria finished 14th. The youngest competitor in the field, 18-year-old Hollie Avil of Germany found the course and conditions too tough and dropped out on lap three of the bike leg.

Updated: 2008-08-18 21:41:21

(BEIJING, August 18) — Javier Gomez of Spain is the red-hot favorite for the Olympic Men’s Triathlon because he has won everything under the sun for the last two years, including this year’s World Championships and the test event staged at the Olympic course last year. The Men’s Triathlon will be held in Beijing on Tuesday, August 19.

The men who finished behind him at the test event were: Courtney Atkinson of Australia (2nd), Docherty Bevan of New Zealand (3rd), Kris Gemmell of New Zealand (4th), Simon Whitfield of Canada (5th), Ivan Rana of Spain (6th), William Clarke of Great Britain (7th), Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia (8th), Frederic Belaubre of France (9th) and Jan Frodeno of Germany (10th). These men will threaten for Gomez for the gold medal.

Olympic medalist Sven Riederer of Switzerland will also be lining up in Beijing. He took the bronze medal in Athens by hanging tough in one of the most courageous performances of the Games.

Updated: 2008-08-18 13:38:12

Emma Snowsill celebrates victory. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 18) — Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt of Australia won gold and bronze medals in today’s Women’s Triathlon race. The silver medal went to Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal.

Snowsill won the gold with a time of one hour, 58 minutes and 27.66 seconds. Fernandes finished in a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 34.63 seconds, while Moffatt won the bronze medal with a time of one hour, 59 minutes and 55.84 seconds.

Laura Bennett of the United States led out of the water, followed closely by Magali di Marco of Switzerland and Sarah Haskins of the United States.

On the 40km bike course, two packs came together early to form a leading group of 24 triathletes. After three laps, the leading group was in front of the chasing group by one minute. The margin was widened to nearly two minutes after five laps.

As the women headed out onto the 10km running course, Snowsill and Fernandes immediately surged to the front and opened up a slight gap over the rest of the field, which they maintained till the end.

Updated: 2008-08-18 13:24:23

Emma Snowsill poses with her gold medal. (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Three-time world champion Emma Snowsill outlasted Vanessa Fernandes to win Australia the Women’s Triathlon gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Monday.

Snowsill breezed through the finish line in 1 hour 58 minutes and 27 seconds, carrying her national flag and clapping hands with her supporters.

Snowsill’s teammate Emma Moffatt took the bronze.

Emma Snowsill competes in the cycling portion. (Photo credit: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Emma Snowsill competes. (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
Emma Snowsill celebrates her victory. (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)
Emma Moffatt (R) and Emma Snowsill celebrate. (Photo credit: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)