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CHINA, Beijing - An Olympic preview awaits this weekend as triathlon’s biggest names travel to Beijing, China for the 12th stop of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series, the official test event for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. But for many athletes, the first step is to earn a spot on their respective Olympic teams. The competition will be fierce and with many countries using this event for their selection process, the pressure will be intense to prove they can perform well on the Olympic course. Specifically, athletes from the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Canada will all be vying for Olympic spots.
Just two weeks after the Hamburg BG Triathlon World Championships, another set of star-studded men’s and women’s fields representing 38 different countries will be in Beijing to contest the Olympic course for the last time before the big dance next summer.
Newly crowned world champion Daniel Unger of Germany will look to pull off another massive upset but Frenchman Frederic Belaubre has had the most success in Beijing in the last two years, taking silver in 2005 and winning in 2006, but has been battling injury all year. American Hunter Kemper has been sidelined for much of this year due to injury but he’ll draw inspiration from his 2005 Beijing world cup win for a lift this weekend. World number one Javier Gomez was painfully close to his first world title last week in Hamburg and will eager to redeem himself with a win on the Olympic course.
On the women’s side, world champion Vanessa Fernandes will be the odds-on favourite to win the Beijing world cup for the third straight year. The world number one has won every race she’s entered since a third place finish in Mooloolaba earlier this year. Her Australian rival Emma Snowsill was runner-up to Fernandes last year in Beijing but will aim to best her this time around. The other Australian Emma Moffatt comes into Beijing ranked number two in the world in this her breakthrough season.
After diving off a pontoon, athletes will swim one lap in the Chang Ping reservoir in a non-wetsuit swim. The distance to the first buoy will be 525 meters and the water temperature is expected to be above 20 degrees Celsius. Athletes will bike six laps of 6.6 kilometres on hilly and technical course and will then run four partly hilly laps of 2.5 kilometres. The race begins and ends in a the uniquely structured stadium area on the side of the Chang Ping dam, seating more then 10,000 spectators. Spectators will be able to watch the entire swim from their seats and then soak in the Olympic-level competition as athletes pass in front on each bike and run lap. Those people not able to come down to the venue will watch the races broadcast live on Chinese national television.
This Beijing World Cup is the test event for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Olympic standard management and operation will be adopted.
The women’s competition is on Saturday at 10am local time (Beijing time). The men’s competition is on Sunday at 10am local time.
More...from the ITU at: Triathlon.org.
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