Posted: May 3, 2007

Triathlon: Whitfield leads Canadian Triathletes to inaugural Lisbon World Cup

LISBON, Portugal - Simon Whitfield, 2000 Olympic gold medalist, headlines a deep Canadian team traveling to Lisbon this weekend for the third stop of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series. They will be among a host of international athletes from 34 countries battling for US$100,000 prize purse and valuable Olympic points as the race to qualify for Beijing continues. Leading the Canadian charge is Whitfield, the men's active leader for most World Cup wins and is tied for fourth among all-time World Cup winners with seven. Whitfield is coming off an eighth place finish in the last World Cup in Ishigaki, Japan to open his 2007 World Cup campaign. Joining him in the men's field is fellow Victoria, BC native Brent McMahon who had his best World Cup result in two years in Ishigaki, as well as Paul Tichelaar of Edmonton, AB, currently the highest ranked Canadian at number ten in the world. On the women's side, Canada is well represented with reigning Junior World Champion Kirsten Sweetland and three-time World Cup winner Jill Savege. Both are coming off solid results in Ishigaki and look to carry that momentum to Lisbon, aiming to add to their Olympic qualifying point total. Canadians in the 2007 Lisbon BG Triathlon World Cup are: Simon Whitfield (Victoria, BC) - 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist, current world #12 Paul Tichelaar (Edmonton, AB) - 2006 Pan American Champion, current world #10 Brent McMahon (Victoria, BC) - 2004 Olympian, current world #13 Kyle Jones (Oakville, ON) - current world #28 (tie) Colin Jenkins (Hamilton, ON) - current world #28 (tie) Kirsten Sweetland (Victoria, BC) - 2006 Junior World Champion, current world #14 Jill Savege (Penticton, BC) - 2004 Olympian, 3 career World Cup wins, current world #17 Kathy Tremblay (Montreal, QC) - 2006 Pan American Champion, current world #29 Christine Jeffrey (Guelph, ON) - 2 career Pan American Cup wins After competing and winning World Cup races around the globe, Portuguese sensation Vanessa Fernandes comes home to compete on home soil. After claiming her 15th World Cup win in Ishigaki, she continues to chase triathlon history and looks to celebrate her homecoming with another victory. Fernandes is tied for second among all-time World Cup winners. This race marks the first time Lisbon will host World Cup triathlon. Full race results and race report will be available immediately after the event (Sunday morning in the Canada). **Note that Lisbon is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. For up-to-date athlete start lists and race information: Triathlon.org. Live Coverage and Results.