Posted: August 1, 2005

Triathlon: Tim Don and Liz Blatchford take the national championships at the Salford Triathlon ITU World Cup

Tim Don and Liz Blatchford secured National Championship titles winning gold at the UK National Championships, following a highly successful event held at the Countryside Properties Salford Triathlon ITU World Cup in Manchester.

Tim Don returned as the national champion and once again showed his superiority and resolve fending off a large chasing pack to finish as top British athlete and overall third in the men's race in a time of 1.51.55.

Close behind him was 2003 Salford Triathlon ITU World Cup winner Andrew Johns who took silver in a time of 1.52.30 and 2004 ITU World Cup Silver medallist Stuart Heyes taking the bronze medal in 1.52.33.

Liz Blatchford won both the World Cup and the National Championship for the women, storming to victory in front of her home crowd in a time of 2.03.44. Dominating the race from the start Liz took the challenge to the rest of the field and showed her strength on the run holding off top GB and international athletes.

Liz comments; "I am ecstatic to have won at Salford. It's a fantastic event and the home crowd certainly helped me along."

Newcomer and debutant to the World Cup scene Helen Tucker ran the race of her life winning a silver medal at the National Championships in 2.04.11 and another strong performance by former world Champion Leanda Cave saw her take bronze medal in a time of 2.04.22.

The National Championships are the qualifiers for the world championships in Gamagori in Japan in September. The British Athletes that are guaranteed qualification after today's event are: Tim Don, Andrew Johns and Stuart Heyes for the Men's teams and Liz Blatchford, Helen Tucker, Leanda Cave, Helen Lawrence, and Michelle Dillon for the women's team.