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Sigrid Mutscheller wins record 6th World Title, Arne Post defends title
Freudenstadt, Germany (February 23, 2008) – German Sigrid Mutscheller and Norwegian Arne Post have combined for a perfect 10. Both successfully defended their titles at today’s ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships and now own ten World Championships between the two of them.
The irrepressible Mutscheller came from behind to win a record sixth title. She delighted the home crowds, leading a gold-silver sweep for the home team. Mutscheller won with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 4 seconds. Her teammate Anke Kullman won her first World Championship medal taking the silver while Austrian Carina Wasle, last year’s runner-up, came across for the bronze.
In the opening leg, a 7.5-kilometer run in the city, Wasle got out to a quick start and built a lead of nearly a minute and a half. But a slow first transition cost Wasle, enabling the German to gain almost 20 seconds. After continuing to chip away at the lead on the challenging 15-kilometer mountain bike course, they rode into the second transition side-by-side.
From the beginning of the final 10-kilometer cross-country ski leg, Mutscheller took command and stole the lead from Wasle for the first time. The defending champion opened up a 30-second gap, which soon became a 90-second lead. The final result was inevitable, the same result the sport had seen at five previous World Championships. Wasle began to fade and was soon caught by a charging Kullman who surged ahead to take the silver while Wasle held on for the bronze.
“I’m really happy. It was such a challenge for me to win this in my hometown. I was very, very nervous before the race,” said Mutscheller. “During the race it was so hard for me on the bike to overtake Carina (Wasle) but I’m so happy I did.”
Mutscheller enters the history books as the only athlete in ITU history to win six elite World Championships. She was previously tied with Great Britain’s Simon Lessing and the late Benny Vansteelant who each owns five elite World Championships in triathlon and duathlon. Mutscheller has dominated Winter Triathlon since the sport’s beginning in 1997, having medalled in ten of the 12 World Championships. She’s also been on the podium for every European Championship since 1998, winning seven times in all.
2008 Freudenstadt ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships - Elite Women’s Final Results
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
World Champion - Sigrid Mutscheller (GER) 1:51:04
Silver - Anke Kullman (GER) 1:52:25
Bronze - Carina Wasle (AUT) 1:53:20
Women’s Results.
Updated women's rankings.
After the crowd was still buzzing over Mutscheller’s historic win in the women’s race, Florian Holzinger had the crowds cheering as he led the men into the first transition after the 7.5-kilometer run. The chase pack included Post, Lebrun and Austrian Heinz Planitzer. The reigning European Champion Andreas Svanebo of Sweden was back in the third group, a minute and 20 seconds behind.
On the gruelling 12-kilometer mountain bike course, Holzinger was alone in front and owned a 50-second lead but was being hunted down by the strong chase pack.
The race turned in the second transition as Holzinger came off the bike with a one minute lead. But after a poor transition, that lead shrunk to less than 15 seconds. The lead soon disappeared altogether as Post took to the ski course. The defending champion threw down the fastest split of the day and cruised to the finish line for his fourth World Championship with a time of 1 hour, 37 minutes and 30 seconds. Lebrun hung on for silver while Svanebo came back hard in the final two laps to take the bronze. Holzinger dropped back to eighth place. Two-time World Champion Sigi Bauer of Austria suffered a flat tire in the first lap of the bike leg and was forced to pull out.
“It was a very good race for me,” said Post. I had a good run and I had a good group on the bike so I did not have to use that much energy. Nobody followed me on the cross-country skiing and that’s where I’m at my best so it’s good for me when it’s a tough ski course and in tough conditions. I had a very good day."
2008 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships – Final Men’s Results
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
World Champion - Arne Post (NOR) 1:37:30
Silver - Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 1:39:16
Bronze - Andreas Svanebo (SWE) 1:39:39
Men’s results.
Updated men's rankings.
The women's and men's Under23 World Championship races were also contested on the same course as the elites. Norway and Italy were triumphant in both races.
2008 Freudenstadt ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships - Under23 Women’s final results
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
Gold - Marthe K Myhre (NOR) 1:58: 17
Silver - Germaine Roullet (ITA) 2:11:23
Bronze - Helen Schmidt (EST) 2:12:00
Women's U23 results
2008 Freudenstadt ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships – Final Under23 Men’s Results
7.5-km run, 12-km mountain bike, 10-km cross-country ski
Gold - Peter Viana (ITA) 1:44:40
Silver - Gjermund Nordskar (NOR) 1:45:40
Bronze - Peter Mosny (SVK) 1:46:49
Men's U23 results.
Freudenstadt is the 12th edition of the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships. Close to 20 countries will be represented as athletes will compete in elite, under23, junior, team relay and age-group categories. On Sunday, February 24, the men's and women's team relays will be staged.
2008 ITU Winter Triathlon events.
About the International Triathlon Union (ITU):
The International Triathlon Union is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related multi-sport disciplines: Duathlon, Aquathlon and Winter Triathlon. ITU was founded in 1989 at the first ITU Congress in Avignon, France and has maintained its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada since then. It now has over 120 affiliated National Federations around the world and is the youngest International Federation in the Olympics. Triathlon was awarded Olympic status in 1994. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high-performance level. For more information, visit Triathlon.org.
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