Atkinson wins in “Lucky” Ishigaki
(April 15, 2007 )
Courtney Atkinson of Australia, who deems this course lucky after losing his wedding ring in the swim here two years ago, has just won the 2007 Ishigaki BG Triathlon World Cup for the third year in a row, the fourth time since 2000. Atkinson’s time of 1 hour 53 minutes and 27 seconds managed to best second place Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, Olympic silver medalist, by 46 seconds. A further 13 seconds back in third position was fellow another Kiwi, Kris Gemmell.
Atkinson managed to break away after the opening 1,500 metre swim with swim-bike specialists Craig Walton of Australia and Marko Albert of Estonia. This was the strategic move of the race, enabling Atkinson to place an 80 second cushion between him self and the chase group by the end of the 40 kilometre bike.
Initially losing time in the early stage of the bike, the chase pack managed to pull themselves into striking distance of the podium over the final two laps. This enabled a number of the sports top runners to reel in Walton and then Albert over the hilly run course.
Out on the 10 kilometre, 3-lap bike course, however, Atkinson cruised to a decisive win and his fifth world cup title, fourth from Ishigaki. The battle came for the other two podium spots with Docherty breaking away from the chase group to run into second place with Gemmell not far behind in third.
With the win Atkinson now sits at the top of the BG Triathlon World Cup rankings and takes home a large share of the Olympic qualifying points on the line and the US$100,000 prize money.
2007 Ishigaki BG Triathlon World Cup – Elite Men results
1. ATKINSON, Courtney (AUS) 1:53:27
2. DOCHERTY, Bevan (NZL) 1:54:13
3. GEMMELL, Kris (NZL) 1:54:26
4. REED, Shane (NZL) 1:54:31
5. COLUCCI, Reinaldo (BRA) 1:54:34
6. ALBERT, Marko (EST) 1:54:40
7. WALTON, Craig (AUS) 1:54:46
8. WHITFIELD, Simon (CAN) 1:55:09
9. MCMAHON, Brent (CAN) 1:55:18
10. SHOEMAKER, Jarrod (USA) 1:55:28
