Posted: October 30, 2004

Triathlon: Sizzling Hot Action at Cancun Triathlon World Cup

Cancun, Mexico, 29 October 2004. The ITU World Cup Series action resumes this weekend in Cancun, home of Mexico’s Caribbean beaches and one of the brightest spots on the international sun-seekers’ map.

The action in the women’s event promises to be very hot with 4 women still in contention for the overall 2004 World Cup title and their share of the $US50, 000 bonus purse, donated by ITU.

Anja Dittmer of Germany, the current World #1 is going into the event with a 41 point lead over Annabel Luxford of Australia. Dittmer has 4 podium finishes to her credit this year including wins at the Hamburg and Tiszaujvaros World Cup events. Luxford also has 4 podium finishes including a win at the last World Cup in Gamagori, Japan.

Other contenders are British team-mates Michelle Dillon, the winner of the Salford World Cup earlier this year and Leanda Cave, winner of the first World Cup of the season in Ishigaki, Japan. Cave also won her World Championship title on the Cancun course in 2002.

Kazakhstan’s Dimitri Gaag has a strangle-hold on the overall men’s title with a 192 point lead on 2nd place Stuart Hayes of Great Britain. Gaag, who has 5 podium finishes in 2004 including a win at the Tongyeong World Cup will be in Cancun to solidify his position at the top.

The real contest in the men’s world rankings is for positions 2 and 3, because they also will share in the World Cup bonus pool. Besides Stuart Hayes, there are 4 men who are in Cancun in the hunt for finishing the season in one of those spots.

Volodomyr Polikarpenko of the Ukraine, the overall winner of the 2003 World Cup is currently sitting in 3rd spot, just 22 points behind Hayes.

Kris Gemmell of New Zealand, the winner of the last World Cup in Gamagori, Japan is also in Cancun. He is just 15 points behind Polikarpenko and is looking to move up into the top 3.

Gemmell’s Kiwi team-mate, Shane Reed was the winner of the Tiszaujvaros World Cup earlier this year, and although a distant 6th place in the rankings, 47 points behind Gemmell, he is always a threat on a flat bike and run course.

The competition starts with a 2 lap swim off Playa Langosta with 26oC water, followed by an 8 lap, 40km flat and fast bike, and finishes with a 4 lap run.

Expected weather for the event is hot and humid. Action gets underway on Sunday, 31 October at 08:00 a.m. local time or 13:00 p.m. UTC, with the men following at 10:15 a.m. or 15:15 p.m. UTC.

All the action will be covered live by the ITU Media team in Cancun and will feature live timing and results, audio, photos and text updates.

The local organizing committee in Cancun is one of the most experienced on the circuit, led by Antonio Alvarez and Jaime Cadaval. They have already played host to 2 ITU World Championships, as well as numerous ITU World Cup events and Pan-American Regional Championships.

Stay tuned to www.triathlon.org for all the live action on Sunday starting at 8:00 a.m. local time.

News highlights from the event will be fed out live via satellite immediately after the event to major news services around the world. Interested news agencies should contact the EBU for more information.

ITUtv will produce a 52 minute show of the Cancun ITU World Cup which will be shipped to the major television broadcasters around the world.

For more information at the ITU World Cup Series, visit www.triathlon.org or www.itutv.com.