Posted: July 26, 2007

Triathlon: Whitfield Leads Canadian Triathlon Team into World Cup this Weekend

SALFORD, England – Fresh off of the ninth World Cup victory of his career last weekend in Austria, Simon Whitfield and a top team of Canadian triathletes head into Salford, England for the tenth round of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup Series this Sunday. Whitfield has a chance to take first position in the overall world rankings this weekend, a place the new father has never been before. He will be joined on the start line by recent Pan American Games silver and bronze medalists Brent McMahon and Lauren Groves, respectively, as well as reining Junior World Champion and world cup phenomenon Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria among others. Other Canadian athletes that will race in the men’s division are Colin Jenkins, Kyle Jones and Andre Paul Baillargeon Smith. The five Canadian men will face stiff competition however, from current world champion and local favourite Tim Don of Great Britain, number-one ranked Javier Gomez of Spain, Commonwealth Games champion Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia, Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and two-time Olympian Andreas Raelert of Germany. It is a strong women’s field in Salford to test Groves, Sweetland as well as team member Carolyn Murray. Current world number one ranked Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal, leads a number of top contenders that include: last year’s winner Samantha Warriner of New Zealand, recent world long distance champion Leanda Cave of Great Britain, world Under23 champion Erin Densham of Australia and world cup winner Debbie Tanner of New Zealand. Canadians competing in the 2007 Salford BG Triathlon World Cup are: Simon Whitfield (Victoria, BC) – 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2002 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist, 9-time world cup winner Brent McMahon (Victoria, BC) – 2004 Olympian, 2007 Pan American Games silver medalist Kyle Jones (Oakville, ON) – finished 2006 as 2nd highest ranked Canadian man, 4th place at 2007 Pan American Games Colin Jenkins (Hamilton, ON) – 7th place at Vancouver World Cup Kirsten Sweetland (Victoria, BC) – 2006 Junior World Champion, 2007 Richards Bay World Cup winner Lauren Groves (Vancouver, BC) – finished 2006 ranked #7 in the world, 2006 Canadian National Champion, highest ranked Canadian woman in 2006, 2007 Pan Am Games bronze medalist Carolyn Murray (Edmonton, AB) – finished 2006 as 3rd highest ranked Canadian woman The Salford BG Triathlon World Cup is part of the ITU’s series of Olympic qualifiers where athletes can claim valuable points in the race to Beijing. The Olympic fields are capped at 55 for men and women with a maximum of three per National Federation. Also on the line is US$100,000 in prize money. Full race results and race report will be available immediately after the event (Sunday morning in Toronto). Women’s Race Time: 06:30am EST (Toronto) Men’s Race Time: 09:00am EST More information at: Triathlon.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest