World Triathlon

This Sunday will mark the end of an era as Corner Brook, Canada will play host to the BG Triathlon World Cup series for the last time.  After 9 years as an annual stop on the world cup circuit, the local organising committee announced only days ago that, after much deliberation, it was time to end this chapter.  The quaint and beautiful town has many stories to tell as the fourth longest running world cup on tour, hosting some of the best athletes in the sport on their way to making history.

Click here to watch video from Corner Brook now.

People at home can tune into TriCast™ Live! and catch live audio commentary, timing, photos and text updates from the final Corner Brook BG Triathlon World Cup, by visiting triathlon.org.

With a win on Sunday, Vanessa Fernandes (POR) will be one step closer to breaking the current world cup winning streak of twelve in a row.  She is currently at nine.  It will not be easy though as the current Olympic gold medallist Kate Allen (AUT) is in Corner Brook and although she races infrequently, she is always at or near the top when she does. 

A strong Canadian team has arrived led by Lauren Groves who, despite being the top-ranked Canadian woman, has never been on the podium at a world cup event.  She will have help though from 2003 winner Jill Savege and Olympian Samantha McGlone.

Emma Moffat is fresh off a silver medal at the Edmonton BG Triathlon World Cup only two weeks ago hoping to again reach the podium.  Also looking for their share of the recently increased US$100,000 prize money are past world cup champion Anja Dittmer (GER), Mirinda Carfrae (AUS), Julie Swail (USA) and Kiyomi Niwata (JPN).  Swail and Niwata finished second and third here last year.

The women’s race will start at 12:00pm NDT (GMT-3.5)

World cup champion and current 2006 leader Hunter Kemper (USA) raced his first world cup here in Corner Brook in 1999, finishing an impressive fifth.  He is back this weekend looking for his first world cup win of the season.  Kemper’s teammate and current Under 23 world champion Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) also raced his first world cup here last year and is looking to better his break-through second place in Edmonton two weeks ago.

Past world champion Ivan Rana (ESP) and 2000 Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield (CAN) will dive into the water on Sunday looking for their share of the valuable Olympic qualifying points.  Corner Brook was the beginning for Rana who, after finishing almost 13 minutes off the win here in his debut world cup in 1998, went on to become a world champion and two-time Olympian.  Whitfield finished a further two minutes behind Rana that year but went on to eventually win the first Olympic gold medal in the sport.

Many faces will be in Corner Brook for the first time on Sunday including Reto Hug (SUI), who finished second at the 2005 world championships, 2006 Ishigaki World cup winner, Courtney Atkinson (AUS) and Kris Gemmell (NZL), who has just missed the podium twice this year.

Gemmell will be looking to capture the elusive podium along with his teammate Terenzo Bozzone who, despite being a two-time Junior world champion, has yet to medal in a world cup race.

Young Javier Gomez (ESP) and Bruno Pais (POR) are currently tied for third in the BG Triathlon World Cup rankings and will be hoping to move closer to the top spot this weekend and their chance at the recently increased US$250,000 world cup series prize money.

The men race will start at 2:30pm NDT (GMT-3.5)

In total, twenty-six countries will be represented at the 2006 Corner Brook BG Triathlon World Cup and the local organising committee is sure to put on an impressive finale to a legendary event.

2006 BG Triathlon World Cup rankings – Elite Women
1. FERNANDES, Vanessa (POR) 150
2. WHITCOMBE, Andrea (GBR) 119
3. GROVES, Lauren (CAN) 117
4. WARRINER, Samantha (NZL) 111
5. BENNETT, Laura (USA) 109
5.  DITTMER, Anja (GER) 109
7.  SNOWSILL, Emma (AUS) 100
7.  LUXFORD, Annabel (AUS) 100
9.  FRANZMANN, Joelle (GER) 88
10. TANNER, Debbie (NZL) 85

2006 BG Triathlon World Cup rankings – Elite Men
1. KEMPER, Hunter (USA) 148
2. KAHLEFELDT, Brad (AUS) 111
3. PAIS, Bruno (POR) 109
3.  GOMEZ, Javier (ESP) 109
5.  POLIKARPENKO, Volodymyr (UKR) 104
6.  RAÑA, Ivan (ESP) 101
7.  FRETTA, Mark (USA) 96
8.  ATKINSON, Courtney (AUS) 89
9.  FRODENO, Jan (GER) 87
10. POTTS, Andy (USA) 83

See all the previous Corner Brook World Cup winners here.