NEWS

Thoughts from the Women’s Press Conference

By Peter Holmes | 10 Sep, 2009

With the deciding leg of the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series coming up on Sunday the top contenders spoke to the world’s media at the Gold Coast Grand Final to talk about their aspirations for race day.

Local attention focussed on Emma Moffatt, the Australian Olympic Games bronze medallist.

“I guess I’ve had my best year yet, but the whole season has been leading into this weekend so let’s see if I can finish it off and have a good race. I’m thinking of it as another race, although there is that incentive of being the world champion if you go well. I think the season has turned out well, I’ve enjoyed the series and the points system and I think it’s been good for our sport and it makes this weekend’s race particularly exciting. We’ve got over 900 age group athletes racing for Australia so hopefully they won’t be too tired after their racing to come and support us, it’s a real privilege to be on home turf.”

Her biggest challenger is the ever improving Lisa Norden from Sweden who fondly calls the Gold Coast her second home.

“I’ve been getting stronger and stronger with every race so I’m looking forward to going out and seeing if I have even more in the tank now. I’ve never really had any high expectations of myself and I’ve been going through my triathlon career one step at a time, but last year was a bit of a breakthrough for me and I knew I could make it. This race is probably as tough for me now as stepping into the under 23 world champs in 2007, so every race is a big challenge and I’ve just got to do my best to get a good result out of it. The Gold Coast is a bit like a back yard away from Europe and I’ve put in some great weeks of training since being back here after Yokohama, so I’m looking forward to getting out there and having a go.”

Andrea Hewitt gave the media some insight into how the race may pan out over the relatively flat course.

“I’ve raced really well this season and I’m looking forward to the Grand Final. I really want to keep my ranking and grab a world championship medal. I’ll be looking out for the girls around me, but it’s such a strong field that anyone could take the win. I think the race will come down to the run, we’re all so close in the swim and bike and then it’ll be a big head to head; I can’t see anyone letting an attack go on the bike.”

Daniela Ryf could have defended her 2008 under 23 world championship title on the Gold Coast, but after a super year is firmly focussed on the elite competition.

“When I started the season my goal was just to race a lot and have fun, but it’s turned out really well and I’ve had some great results. The level of running is so close between us at elite level, whereas when I won the under 23 world championships last year it was more about getting away on the bike and competing against much fewer athletes. I’ve really enjoyed travelling to the different cities throughout the series, for example Washington was a really cool race and Hamburg was awesome with lots of spectators. The improved live coverage and media has really helped our sport and this year has been a great step in making triathlon more popular.”

Related Event: 2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Grand Final Gold Coast
09 - Sep, 2009 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Men
1. Alistair Brownlee GBR 01:44:51
2. Javier Gomez Noya ESP 01:44:57
3. Jan Frodeno GER 01:45:21
4. Maik Petzold GER 01:45:25
5. Courtney Atkinson AUS 01:45:27
6. Dmitry Polyanskiy RUS 01:45:29
7. Steffen Justus GER 01:45:30
8. Simon Whitfield CAN 01:45:31
9. Laurent Vidal FRA 01:45:37
10. Alexander Bryukhankov RUS 01:45:38
Results: Elite Women
1. Emma Moffatt AUS 01:59:14
2. Lisa Norden SWE 01:59:19
3. Helen Jenkins GBR 01:59:41
4. Sarah Haskins USA 01:59:52
5. Annabel Luxford AUS 02:00:07
6. Daniela Ryf SUI 02:00:21
7. Magali Di Marco Messmer SUI 02:00:25
8. Andrea Hansen NZL 02:00:26
9. Jessica Harrison FRA 02:00:26
10. Liz Blatchford GBR 02:00:29
Results: U23 Men
1. Franz Löschke GER 01:46:19
2. James Seear AUS 01:46:25
3. Joao Pereira POR 01:46:32
4. Tony Dodds NZL 01:46:39
5. Jonathan Zipf GER 01:46:41
6. Jose Miguel Perez ESP 01:46:57
7. Ivan Tutukin KAZ 01:47:04
8. Crisanto Grajales MEX 01:47:15
9. Lukas Salvisberg SUI 01:47:30
10. Denis Vasiliev RUS 01:47:34
Results: U23 Women
1. Hollie Avil GBR 01:56:38
2. Jodie Stimpson GBR 01:57:01
3. Paula Findlay CAN 01:57:15
4. Vicky Holland GBR 01:57:30
5. Yuliya Yelistratova UKR 01:59:48
6. Sarah Fladung GER 02:00:22
7. Annamaria Mazzetti ITA 02:00:31
8. Charlotte Morel FRA 02:00:32
9. Agnieszka Jerzyk POL 02:00:44
10. Dan Bi Hong KOR 02:00:50
Results: Junior Men
1. Mario Mola ESP 00:54:35
2. Jonathan Brownlee GBR 00:54:50
3. Kristóf Király HUN 00:54:55
4. Kevin McDowell USA 00:55:07
5. Davide Uccellari ITA 00:55:10
6. Igor Polyanskiy RUS 00:55:13
7. Min Ho Heo KOR 00:55:14
8. Andrey Bryukhankov RUS 00:55:19
9. Stefan Zachäus LUX 00:55:22
10. Matheus Diniz BRA 00:55:25
Results: Junior Women
1. Emmie Charayron FRA 01:00:22
2. Emma Jackson AUS 01:00:41
3. Rachel Klamer NED 01:00:57
4. Maaike Caelers NED 01:00:59
5. Alexandra Razarenova RUS 01:01:05
6. Allison Hooper CAN 01:01:09
7. Holly Aitken AUS 01:01:27
8. Kyla Coates CAN 01:01:39
9. Carina Brechters GER 01:01:40
10. Yuka Sato JPN 01:01:51