Posted: June 13, 2004

Triathlon: McMahon qualifies for Olympic Games, Savege 3rd in Tongyeong ITU Triathlon World Cup

Victoria, Canada’s Brent McMahon qualified for the Athens Olympic Games Triathlon today in the Tongyeong ITU Triathlon World Cup, South Korea. Penticton’s Jill Savege claimed the third place position in the women’s event in her first ITU race of 2004.

McMahon, 23 years of age, finished in 8th place overall in the Tongyeong ITU World Cup event in a time of 1:51:54; a performance that earned him his third and final Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), Olympic qualification standard. McMahon will join Olympic Champion Simon Whitfield to represent Canada in Triathlon at the Athens Olympic Games. McMahon required a finish of 10th place or better to meet his final COC standard.

There were hot and humid weather conditions and an enthusiastic Korean crowd on the Southern Korean peninsula for the 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run event. In the men’s event Dimitry Gaag (KAZ), current ITU World Cup Standings leader, outsprinted Australia’s Bryce Quirk in the finish chute for the top podium position. The Canadian men were a force throughout the race – Sean Betchel of Ontario, in his first year on the ITU World Cup circuit, led for much of the swim and was joined by teammates Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton and McMahon in the lead pack on the bike. Tichelaar finished in 19th position overall and Betchel in 25th.

The hot temperatures persisted as the women took to the water following the completion of the men’s event. Penticton’s Jill Savege, a three time ITU World Cup winner and Tara Ross, a swim specialist from Ontario, led the group of women through the swim. Savege and Ross remained in the lead pack throughout the bike while Vancouver’s Carol Montgomery was in the chase pack that also included former World Champion Leanda Cave (GBR), Kelowna’s Gillian Moody and Lauren Groves of Vancouver.

In the end the 2002 ITU World Champion Leanda Cave had a phenomenal run and crossed the line first in a time of 2:00: 19, almost a minute ahead of Australia’s Pip Taylor, winner of the 2003 Salford ITU World Cup and Jill Savege who finished in third position. It was a strong finish for Jill in her first race of the season.

The depth of talent amoung the Canadian women was demonstrated once again; Carol Montgomery and Lauren Groves finished 9th and 10th respectively. Tara Ross finished 12th with phenomenal swim and bike splits and Gillian Moody was 14th overall.

Savege and Montgomery have completed their COC Olympic standards as have Paris, Ontario’s Natasha Filliol, Kingston’s Sharon Donnelly and Montreal’s Samantha McGlone. The complete Triathlon Athens Olympic team will be formally announced following the Edmonton ITU Triathlon World Cup on July 11, 2004. The performances by Savege and Montgomery today in Korea will further solidify their claim on Olympic spots.

Men’s Top 10 Results
1 GAAG Dimitriy KAZ 01:50:27
2 QUIRK Bryce AUS 01:50:28
3 WEALING Seth USA 01:50:34
4 GOMEZ Javier ESP 01:50:34
5 THOMPSON Simon AUS 01:50:48
6 GLUSHCHENKO Andriy UKR 01:51:18
7 HILL Chris AUS 01:51:36
8 McMAHON Brent CAN 01:51:44
9 SAPUNOV Daniil KAZ 01:51:54
10 ELLIS Clark NZL 01:52:04
 
 Women’s Top Ten Results
1  CAVE Leanda GBR 02:00:19
2 TAYLOR Pip AUS 02:01:03
3 SAVEGE Jill CAN 02:01:14
4 LUXFORD Annabelle AUS 02:02:27
5 FRINTOVA Vendula CZE 02:02:50
6 RADOVA Lenka CZE 02:02:55
7 WHITCOMBE Andrea GBR 02:03:18
8 UEDA Ai JPN 02:04:21
9 MONTGOMERY Carol CAN 02:04:37
10 GROVES Lauren CAN 02:04:48

From TriathlonCanada.com.