Posted: April 16, 2005

Triathlon: World Cup Season Kicks Off on Waikiki Beach

Honolulu, Hawaii, 15 April 2005: Take the azure blue Pacific Ocean that rolls onto Waikiki Beach, add tens of thousands of tourist who stroll up and down Kalakaua Avenue, the natural beauty of Kapiolani Park, and the silent majesty of Diamond Head in the background, and you probably have the perfect setting for staging the opening round of the ITU Triathlon World Cup Series.

The start list is jam-packed with Olympic and World Champions, and the course is stunningly beautiful with a killer hill on the bike section that is guaranteed to break a few brave hearts during the race.

The powerhouse triathlon nations have pulled out their big guns for the opening of a very exciting season of World Cup Triathlon racing ahead.

The home county USA favourites are led by the Olympic bronze medalist, Susan William, Barb Lindquist, who one the Olympic Trials on this course a year ago, and Laura Bennett (nee Reback), who has stood atop several World Cup podiums in the past. The America men are led by their Olympians, Hunter Kemper, Andy Potts, along with the former Kiwi and perennial threat (especially on a hilly course) Matt Reed.

The biggest attraction on the women’s side has to be Austria’s Olympic Champion Kate Allen and the woman she out-sprinted in Athens, Loretta Harrop from Australia. The course at Waikiki is very similar to the venue for the Olympic Games, so excitement is mounting for a repeat head-to-head between Allen and Harrop.

Emma Snowsill from Australia, the 2003 Triathlon World Champion is also off to a great start this year with a win at the recent Oceania Triathlon Championships. Anabel Luxford, #2 in the 2004 World Cup rankings promises to be with the lead pack from the start.

Joelle Franzmann of Germany, who is always at the front on a hilly course, will be someone to watch, as will Canada’s Olympic team of Jill Savege, Carol Montgomery and Samantha McGlone.

On the men’s side New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty, the Olympic silver medalist and reigning Triathlon World Champion is the star of the show. Docherty, who is known also for his dry sense of humour, is cautiously optimistic about the season’s opener. He is joined by team-mates Shane Reed and Nathan Richmond.

It won’t be a cake-walk for Docherty as the start list is filled with the who’s who of planet triathlon.

The Aussies are led by Greg Bennett (4th at the Olympic Games and known for eating up hilly courses,) Simon Thompson, Brad Krahlefelt, Bryce Quirk (the Oceania Champ,) and perennial media favourite, Chris Hill.

Denmark’s Rasmus Henning, who won the Hamburg World Cup in 2004, is also looking for a podium finish here, as are the French duo of Cedric Fleureton and Stephan Poulat.

Spain’s 2002 World Champion Ivan Rana is also on the start list along with Jose Merchan and Javier Gomez. The precision teamwork of the Spanish team is always a joy to watch.

The German team including Maik Petzold, Sebastian Dehmer, Jan Frodeno and Justus Stephan should also be tracked through the action. Together they are becoming a well-oiled triathlon machine, but individually they are capable of achieving one of those coveted podium steps.

Hiroyuki Nishiuchi and Junichi Yamamoto of Japan are also exciting young triathletes to watch on this course, particularly with hundreds of Japanese triathletes in town for the JAL Honolulu Triathlon, and thousands of Japanese tourists who consider this island their holiday home.

Event organizer Bill Burke is bursting at the seams with pride when he speaks about the elite athletes in town for first World Cup event to touch down on Waikiki Beach. Burke is also justifiably proud of bringing Japan Airlines (JAL) on board as the naming rights sponsor for the ITU World Cup event, as well as the JAL Honolulu Triathlon. “Having these elite athletes here for the ITU World Cup makes all the work of staging an event of this magnitude worthwhile. Without the JAL sponsorship and the wonderful support we get from the city of Honolulu, this dream would not be possible

Triathlon.org will be covering the event live with live results, photos, text updates and live audio featuring ITU’s “Voice of Triathlon”, Barrie Shepley.

Live coverage begins with the start of the women’s event at 9:00 a.m. local time and continues through to the end of the men’s race, about 1:30 p.m.