Posted: August 31, 2007

Triathlon: Gold and Silver for Corus Great Britain Juniors at Triathlon World Championships

Hollie Avil and Alistair Brownlee took first and second finishes for the Corus Great Britain Triathlon team in the Junior races at the Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg following impressive performances on a cold morning in Germany. Avil, from Northampton, exited the 750m swim in first and sustained her lead in the front bike pack with fellow compatriots Kirsty McWilliam and Jodie Stimpson. Despite having a slow second transition she ran through to take victory 11 seconds ahead of Australia’s Ashley Gentle and home favourite, Rebecca Robisch. McWilliam finished seventh with Stimpson in 26th. Hollie Avil said: “I had a great swim and rode strongly, but had some difficulties getting my running shoes on because my feet were so cold. I got my head down and dug in though and managed to pull away in the second half of the run. This has capped off a brilliant year!” Alistair Brownlee entered the race as the defending champion, but following a difficult transition found himself in a chasing pack of three athletes on the bike leg. Exiting the bike a minute down on the leaders in seventh, Brownlee impressively ran his way into second, finishing just 25 seconds behind race winner, Aurélien Raphael from France. Alistair Brownlee commented: “I was beaten by a better guy on the day. I knew the French would go hard on the swim, and I couldn’t quite close the gap. Both my team mate Aaron Harris and I worked hard on the bike and I just gave it everything on the run. I wasn’t feeling that good, but I really enjoy chasing and it’s a pity that Aurélien had such a big head start.” Heather Williams, British Triathlon’s Performance Programme Manager, said: “Alistair and Hollie have produced some excellent results today for the Corus GB team, and their strong performances bode well for the future. We have an excellent development programme at British Triathlon and we look forward to following their progress towards the London 2012 Olympic Games.” Junior Women’s result: 1. Hollie Avil, Great Britain 2. Ashley Gentle, Australia 3. Rebecca Robisch, Germany - 7. Kirsty McWilliam, Great Britain 26. Jodie Stimpson, Great Britain Junior Men’s result: 1. Aurélien Raphael, France 2. Alistair Brownlee, Great Britain 3. Vincent Luis, France - 15. Jonathan Brownlee, Great Britain 18. Aaron Harris, Great Britain This afternoon (Friday) will see European Champions Rosie Clarke and Ritchie Nicholls racing in the Under 23 competitions, whilst the Elite Women compete on Saturday afternoon and the Elite Men on Sunday. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest