Fernandes, Gomez Favored at 20th ITU World Championship in Vancouver
As the International Triathlon Union welcomes the triathlon world to its headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, to contest the 20th ITU Olympic-distance world championship, the looming imminence of the 2008 Olympics has narrowed the contending field.
While Portugal’s brilliant prodigy Vanessa Fernandes, by virtue of her dominating performances, doesn’t seem have anyone to challenge her quest to earn a second-straight world title, Spain’s reigning two-time ITU World Cup series champion Javier Gomez will have a fight on his hands to win his first-ever ITU Worlds and overcome the home-country favorite, Simon Whitfield of Canada.
THE MEN
On the men’s front, many contenders are staying home and resting up for Olympic-related concerns. No-shows include top Australian Olympians Brad Kahlefeldt and Courtney Atkinson and three-time ITU world champion Peter Robertson; Germany’s defending world champion Daniel Unger and fellow Olympians Jan Frodeno and Christian Prochnow; New Zealand Olympians Kris Gemmell and Shane Reed; Switzerland’s 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Sven Riederer; and the U.S.’s Andy Potts and Hunter Kemper.
Gomez has emerged as the big favorite for the Olympic gold with three World Cup wins this year which included his 10th career World Cup win, and a remarkable string of 16-straight World Cup podiums. But as proven by Unger’s come-from-behind upset win against Gomez at the Hamburg world championship last year, the young Spaniard has proven vulnerable against the occasional inspired, red-hot performance.
Prime contender for such an attack is 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 2003 Commonwealth Games champion Whitfield, who senses the end of his fabulous career approaching and has never won a world championship medal. The closest he came was a disappointing fifth at the most recent home- country Worlds at Edmonton in 2001.
Whitfield won last year’s World Cup on the Vancouver course and recently took his 11th World Cup victory in Japan. “To win a world championship at home would be huge,” Whitfield told ITU Media. “It’s something I’d put on the resume. But it’s not like I can go to the supermarket and pick one up. I have to figure out how to win one.”
Also contending will be France’s Frederic Belaubre, coming off his third European championship, red-hot Ivan Vasiliev of Russia, fresh from a close second-place finish at Madrid, 2004 world champion and Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, 2007 Life Time Fitness series champion Greg Bennett of Australia, and a very motivated Reed of the U.S., coming off a second place at Richards Bay and wins at Tuscaloosa and St. Anthony’s.
With the added incentive of Olympic selection hanging in the balance, Canadians Paul Tichelaar, Brent McMahon, Kyle Jones and Colin Jenkins will also be fired up and ready to make a breakthrough finish, with Tichelaar the most likely to shine.
THE WOMEN
Only Australia’s three-time ITU world champion Emma Snowsill has shown she has the run and the ability to beat the current version of Fernandes – which she did at Mooloolaba this spring. But Snowy is a non-starter, presumably resting up for a $200,000 payday at Hy-Vee two weeks from now.
In addition to Australia’s Snowsill and an injured Annabel Luxford, missing in action at Vancouver will be Great Britain’s young Olympic contender Hollie Avil; all three German Olympians: Ricarda Lisk, Anja Dittmer and Christiane Pilz; Switzerland’s rising stars Daniela Ryf and Nicola Spirig and her 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Magali di Marco Messmer.
However, despite the no-shows, the women’s field is loaded with contenders for the silver and bronze medals. The U.S. is sending a full contingent including four-time ITU world championship medalist Laura Bennett, Tuscaloosa Olympic qualifier Julie Ertel, and top contenders for the third Olympic spot, Sarah Haskins Kortuem and Sarah Groff. With two more Olympic slots on the line, Canadian women Kirsten Sweetland and Carolyn Murray, who won the Richards Bay South Africa World Cup in 2007 and 2008, respectively, will be fighting it out with Kathy Tremblay, while already-qualified Lauren Groves will be trying to improve on her fourth-place world championship finish at Lausanne in 2006.
New Zealand will be coming full strength with all three Olympic qualifiers Samantha Warriner, Debbie Tanner and Andrea Hewitt starting. Minus Snowsill and Luxford, Australia comes tough with Olympians Emma Moffatt and Erin Densham on the start line backed up by first alternate Felicity Abram and up and coming sensation Alee Sharp.
But perhaps no one in the field has more at stake than defending Olympic champion Kate Allen. Thanks to an early-season crash that broke ribs, cracked teeth and required 22 stitches to repair wounds to her face, Australian-born, Austrian citizen Allen must pull out a top-10 finish to be considered for Olympic qualification.
