Posted: September 12, 2007

Triathlon: Canadian triathletes race for Olympic spots at Beijing world cup

BEIJING, China – Canada's triathlon team will get a preview of the Olympic course that awaits them next summer at the Beijing Summer Games. But before they can look ahead to dreams of Olympic glory, the athletes will first have to earn a spot on the Canadian team and their final opportunity of the 2007 season is this weekend's Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup, the official test event for the Olympics. With a career-best fourth place finish at the recent world championships, Simon Whitfield has all but locked up a spot on his third Olympic team. Among those looking to join him are Paul Tichelaar, the current National champion and Brent McMahon, silver medalist at this year's Pan Am Games. Tichelaar is the only Canadian man in this year's field who has previously raced in Beijing, back in 2005. The course has gone through slight modifications each year. On the women's side, Vancouver 's Lauren Groves vastly increased her Olympic hopes with her recent 14th place finish at world championships in Hamburg. She'll earn her spot on the team provided two other Canadian women do not finish in the top 8 this weekend, regardless of her own performance. Victoria's Kirsten Sweetland has had a breakthrough season but has faltered in the first two Olympic qualifiers set out by Triathlon Canada. The teenager failed to finish at both the world championships and the highly competitive Des Moines BG Triathlon World Cup in June. Depending on how the other Canadian women fare this weekend, Sweetland needs either a top 5 or top 8 finish. If spots remain open after this weekend's world cup in Beijing, the final qualifier for the Canadians will be next year's world championships in Vancouver. Kathy Tremblay, the new National Champion, has the best Canadian result in Beijing over the last two years, a ninth place finish in 2006. Both men's and women's events will be highly competitive with star-studded fields all vying for the prestigious Beijing world cup title. Newly crowned world champion Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal looks to continue her mastery of Beijing with a third straight victory. While men's world number one Javier Gomez aims to extend his impressive world cup podium streak that dates back to March 2006. With many other countries using this weekend's world cup as part of their selection process, the competition will be intense. As the test event for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Olympic standard management and operation will be adopted. The women will race on Saturday at 10am (Friday 10pm EST) and the men will start on Sunday at 10am (Saturday 10pm EST). Canadians competing in the 2007 Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup are: Simon Whitfield (Victoria, BC) – 9-time World Cup winner, tied for 3rd among all-time World Cup winners (leads all active men) Paul Tichelaar (Edmonton, AB) – 2007 Canadian National Champion Brent McMahon (Victoria, BC) – 2004 Olympian, 2007 Pan American Games silver medalist Kyle Jones (Oakville, ON) – 4th place at 2007 Pan American Games Colin Jenkins (Hamilton, ON) – current world #41 Kirsten Sweetland (Victoria, BC) – current world #8, 2006 Junior World Champion Lauren Groves (Vancouver, BC) – 2007 Pan American Games bronze medalist Kathy Tremblay (Montreal, QC) – 2007 Canadian National Champion Christine Jeffrey (Guelph, ON) – 2 career Pan American Cup wins Carolyn Murray (Edmonton, AB) – 14th place at 2005 Beijing ITU World Cup Olympic qualifying began June 1, 2006 and concludes after the Vancouver BG Triathlon World Championships next June. Both men's and women's fields are capped at 55 each and a maximum of eight National Olympic Committees can qualify the maximum of three men and three women. For more information on the International Triathlon Union's qualification process and criteria, please visit triathlon.org. Full race results and race report will be available immediately after the event at: Triathlon.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest