Posted: May 10, 2004

Triathlon: Filliol 16th in World Championships, McMahon is 27th

2004-05-09 -- Madeira, Portugal

Natasha Filliol of Paris, Ontario was the first Canadian Woman across the line - finishing 16th in the ITU Triathlon World Championships. Brent McMahon of Victoria was the top man finishing 27th.

Canadian athletes preformed well in the U23 category - Kathy Tremblay and Jessica Kirkwood both posted top ten finishes. Tremblay, from Gatineau, Quebec, finished 9th in a time of 2:00:18 about three and a half minutes behind the winner Annabel Luxford of Australia. Jessica Kirkwood of Newmarket, Ontario was only seconds behind Tremblay finishing in tenth place. Marie-Elaine Normand and Janet Nielson were unable to complete the event.

Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton, Alberta was the top Canadian in the Under 23 men’s event. He had a strong 18th place finish after a 2002-2003 season plagued by injuries. Tichelaar’s time 1:47:11 – was just over three minutes back from the winner Sebastien Dehmer of Germany. Canadians Sean Betchel, Nick Hastie and Marc Despasties finished 32nd, 42nd and 46th respectively in the U23 category.

In the elite women’s event the day belonged to American Sheila Taormina – who claimed her first World Championship in a time of 1:52:57 over second place Loretta Harrop (AUS) and third place American teammate Laura Reback who trains in Victoria, Canada.

Top Canadian Natasha Filliol finished in 16th position with a time of 1:55:25. Edmonton’s Carolyn Murray finished 40th overall with her best elite World Championship finish to date while Vancouver’s Carol Montgomery finished 42nd with a run time much slower than usual. Gillian Moody of Kelowna finished in 48th position while Samantha McGlone of Montreal, who has preformed well the past several weekends, struggled in Madeira finishing 52nd. Suzanne Weckend of Victoria was unable to complete her first Triathlon World Championships.

In the men’s event New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty, who has been looking strong in 2004, claimed his first World Championship title in a time of 1:41:04. It came down to a tight sprint finish between Docherty and 2002 World Champion Ivan Rana (ESP). Another former World Champion, Dimitry Gaag (KAZ) claimed the final podium position.

Victoria’s Brent McMahon, who won an International event in Columbia last weekend, was the top Canadian in 27th position with a time of 1:43:35. Sebastien LaFlamme of Quebec City finished the event in 64th position.

Missing from the start list in Madeira were top ranked Canadians Simon Whitfield and Jill Savege.

From TriathlonCanada.com.

Complete results and photos are available from the ITU website at: www.triathlon.org.