The Beijing Olympic bronze medallist never looked troubled as she broke away at the half way point on the run to win by 34 seconds ahead of newly crowned European champion, Nicola Spirig from Switzerland. New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt took third to back up her win at the Madrid Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship in May.
The race started with a bang as Hayley Piersol from the USA laid down an awesome 1500m swim to exit the lake over a minute ahead of the next athlete. Her brother, Aaron, is a five time Olympic gold medallist in the pool and recently set two world records at the United States national championships.
Her lead was short lived as she was tracked down on the 40km bike by the main pack driven by the British trio of Hollie Avil, Helen Jenkins and Kerry Lang. Spirig endured a poor swim and found herself time trialling up the leaders, managing to bridge the gap on lap three of eight. 2004 Olympic champion and local hero, Kate Allen, worked hard to pull herself back into the race and recovered from a ninety second deficit after the swim to work her way up to the thirty athlete strong lead group come second transition.
Moffatt stole an early advantage as she put together a quick change onto the 10km run and took Spirig and 2008 world champion Jenkins with her. The Swiss athlete was the first to feel the burn and slipped back to the chasing pair of Hewitt and Canada’s Kathy Tremblay whilst Allen drew on the home support to work her way through the runners.
At the 5k point Moffatt surged hard to drop Jenkins who then fell back into the clutches of the three strong group behind as the Aussie drew away for the win. Spirig was the first to kick for the line from the chasers and crossed the line five seconds ahead of Hewitt with Tremblay in fourth. Jenkins took fifth as she managed to hold off the fast finishing European under 23 champion Yuliya Sapunova from the Ukraine. Rapturous applause greeted Allen, who was one place back in seventh, as she completed her final race on home soil before she retires at the end of the year.
“I had another good race and I’m really happy with my performance,” said an emotional Moffatt, who dedicated her victory to her grandmother who recently died back in Australia. “I’m enjoying a great year and I hope it will continue through to the Grand Final on the Gold Coast back in Australia in September.”
Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings
After Race Four of Eight
1. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 2640pts
2. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2229pts
3. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 1818pts
4. Jessica Harrison (FRA) 1722pts
5. Helen Jenkins (GBR) 1710pts
KitzbĂĽhel Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Women - Official Results
Gold – Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:54:37
Silver – Nicola Spirig (SUI) 1:55:11 +0:34
Bronze – Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 1:55:16 +0:39
4th – Kathy Tremblay (CAN) 1:55:20 +0:43
5th – Helen Jenkins (GBR) 1:55:26 +0:49
6th – Yuliya Sapunova (UKR) 1:55:27 +0:50
7th – Kate Allen (AUT) 1:55:28 +0:51
8th – Kate McIlory (NZL) 1:55:31 +0:54
9th – Vendula Frintova (CZE) 1:55:37 +1:00
10th – Lauren Groves (CAN) 1:55:46 +1:09
La australiana Emma Moffatt cruzĂł la lĂnea de meta en un tiempo de 1:54:37 en la carrera de las Series de los Campeonatos del Mundo de TriatlĂłn ITU Dextro Energy y de esta forma lograr su tercera victoria consecutiva tras la victoria en la serie de Washington, DC y en la Copa Élite de TriatlĂłn ITU de Hy-Vee en Des Moines, donde se embolsĂł 200.000$. La victoria de Moffatt refuerza su liderazgo en lo más alto de la ClasificaciĂłn del Campeonato del Mundo de TriatlĂłn ITU Dextro Energy.
La carrera comenzĂł con un ritmo trepidante de la estadounidense Hayley Piersol en los 1500m de nataciĂłn donde consiguiĂł salir del lago con más de un minuto de ventaja sobre la primera perseguidora. Su hermano Aaron, es cinco veces medallista de oro OlĂmpico en nataciĂłn y recientemente logrĂł dos records mundiales en los campeonatos de Estados Unidos.
Moffatt se hizo rápidamente con una pequeña ventaja ya que hizo un rápido cambio de ritmo en los 10km de carrera a pie y se llevó con ella a la Spirig y a la Jenkins, la campeona del mundo en 2008. La atleta suiza fue la primera en sentir el cansancio en sus piernas y se descolgó hasta la pareja perseguidora formada por Hewitt y la canadiense Kathy Tremblay, mientras que Allen se aprovechó del apoyo local para ir superando a una corredora tras otra.
“Hice una Buena carrera y estoy realmente contenta con mi actuación,” dijo una emocionada Moffatt, quien dedicó su victoria a su abuela fallecida recientemente en Australia. “Estoy disfrutando de un gran año y espero que continúe hasta la Gran Final en Gold Coast, Australia en Septiembre.
