Britain's Ironman World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, will look to keep the ITU Long Distance Triathlon Championships in British hands at this weekend's race in Almere, Netherlands.
Bella Comerford claimed the title in Canberra in 2006 and Leanda Cave took victory in Lorient, France, last year. However, with a strong field including Germany's Ulrike Schwalbe and Lucie Zelenkova from the Czech Republic, victory is far from assured.
Wellington has enjoyed a successful 2008 with wins at the European Ironman Championships in Frankfurt and the Alpe D'Huez Triathlon in France. A fortnight ago she won the Timberman Ironman 70.3 in New Hampshire, USA.
It has already been a golden year for British women with Helen Tucker winning the Triathlon World Championships in Vancouver and Catriona Morrison taking victory at the Long Distance Duathlon World Championships in Geel, Belgium.
Britain's representative in the elite men's race is 24 year old Paul Ambrose who lives in Sydney, Australia. Having racked up two podium finishes in the 2008 Ironman 70.3 series he will be looking for a strong performance in Almere.
Alongside the elite performers 43 British Age Group competitors will make the journey to the Netherlands to compete against the international amateur field.
About British Triathlon
British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK’s fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its development programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 650 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year, including the Corus Elite Series which attracts athletes from all over the world and the renowned Mazda London Triathlon.
For more information visit www.britishtriathlon.org.
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