Posted: August 31, 2007

Triathlon: Narrow medal misses for GB Corus athletes Clarke and Nicholls at BG Triathlon World Championships

Cambridge’s Rosie Clarke and Ritchie Nicholls from Montrose narrowly missed out on bronze medals in the Under 23 races at the BG Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg today. In wet and cold conditions, Clarke, the European Under 23 Champion, stayed in the chase pack on the 40km cycle as Jasmine Oeinck from the United States rode ahead, carving out a minute lead onto the 10km run. Despite halving the gap between herself and Oeinck to 30 seconds, Clarke was unable to stay with Sweden’s Lisa Norden who ran through to victory. Hungary’s Renata Koch had come off the bike stage 40 seconds behind Clarke, but demonstrated excellent running ability to steal the bronze. Rosie Clarke said: “My initial reaction is that I’m absolutely gutted to have missed out on the medals by just a few seconds. I have been running very well in training but just couldn’t carry that form into the race. I have another two years racing as an Under 23 and next year I’ll be looking to win both European and World titles.” In the men’s Under 23 competition, European Champion Ritchie Nicholls impressively rode his way up to the front pack with compatriot Philip Graves, despite a poor swim. Unfortunately in the pouring rain, the third GB Corus elite team member, Dann Brook, fell off his bike and was forced to retire with injury. Nicholls continued his progression through the field on the run, pushing through into sixth place as the athletes started their final 2.5km loop. However his charge for the line fell short as he finished just thirteen seconds away from gold and four from bronze. Ritchie Nicholls commented: “That was a very frustrating race to endure; first having to ride up to the leaders and then not quite being able to win a medal. I have had a good season, but like Rosie haven’t been able to turn my European win into a World medal. We’re both relative youngsters in the Under 23 field and there will be plenty more opportunities to win in the future.” Women’s Under 23 Results: 1. Lisa Norden, Sweden 2. Jasmine Oeinck, USA 3. Renata Koch, Hungary 4. Rosie Clarke, Great Britain Men’s Under 23 Results: 1. Gregor Buchholz, Germany 2. Brendan Sexton, Australia 3. Ivan Vasiliev, Russia 4. Ritchie Nicholls, Great Britain - 52. Philip Graves, Great Britain DNF. Dann Brook, Great Britain The Triathlon World Championship weekend continues with the Elite Women’s race on Saturday afternoon and concludes with the Elite Men on Sunday afternoon where Britain’s Tim Don will defend his title. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest