Snowsill on a roll as Robo grabs 4th

Sunday, 13 April 2008

Australia’s Emma Snowsill and Erin Densham have claimed Gold and Silver in round three of the 2008 ITU World Cup series in Ishigaki, Japan today. 2008 Olympian Snowsill once again added to her extensive medal count, leading from start to finish to claim her eighth world cup title. In the men's field, Peter Roberston put himself on the Olympic selector's radar in a stunning reversal of form to grab 4th in a top flight field, including winner Simon Whitfield.

Snowsill dominated in today's racing right from the start, moving quickly to the lead of the swim amongst the field 41 women. Snowsill exited the water in first place with three chasers, including the British swimming trio of Helen Tucker, Jodie Swallow and Kerry Lang. At the start of the 40 kilometre bike ride, this group of four were joined by four more to create a lead pack. The small break away was quickly swallowed up by a chase group of ten however, including fellow Australian Erin Densham.

Entering the final transition, Snowsill fell almost ten seconds behind. In her usual form though, she tore away to the front of the pack in the first 500 metres and never looked back, clocking up a blistering 33:23 final 10-kilometre run split to grab top spot and her 16th career podium. Erin Densham managed to dig deep to finish within 30 seconds of Snowsill, hoping to convince Australian Olympic selectors that she's worthing of an Olympic spot after a slow start to her season.

"I am really happy with my result today," Snowsill said from Japan. "It was nice to step into a race feeling completely well and my aim is to target races with these types of conditions that are similar to what we can expect to see in Beijing". Olympic hopeful Felicity Abram of Queensland unfortunately found herself caught amongst the white water of the chasers in the swim, resulting in a withdrawal from the race early in the bike leg due to stomach ailments.

 

Elite Women results

Gold – Emma Snowsill (AUS) 2:03:11
Silver – Erin Densham (AUS) 2:03:40 +:29
Bronze – Hollie Avil (GBR) 2:05:25 +2:14
4 – Juri Ide (JPN) 2:05:30 +2:19
5 – Kathy Tremblay (CAN) 2:05:57 +2:46
6- Nicola Spirig (SUI) 2:06:05 +2:54
7 – Daniela Ryf (SUI) 2:06:20 +3:09
8 – Mariana Ohata (BRA) 2:06:30 +3:19
9 – Irina Abysova (RUS) 2:06:34 +3:23
10 – Lisa Huethaler (AUT) 2:06:42 +3:31


In a valiant effort to redeem his name in the eyes of Australia’s Olympic selectors, three-time World Champion Peter Robertson tore through today’s run leg, shaving almost one minute off the race leaders. After being caught in chase pack on the bike leg, Robertson entered the transition areas one minute and 27 seconds behind the race leader, Canada's Simon Whitfield. Racing for his honour, Robertson then managed to run down the pack of 26 leaders to finish his day in fourth place.

It's been a torrid ten months for Robertson, after spending almost six months out of race action after being struck down by an E-coli bacteria in the States last June. Today’s effort left Robertson feeling more positive about where he sits with potential Olympic selection, commenting “In terms of Olympic selection, my racing today definitely comes in handy. It was important for me to show people that I can run fast. Unfortunately my pre-race plan failed me on the bike. I went out hard from the start but got caught up in that second pack and couldn’t move. I feel like I might be in there with a chance now,” said Robertson.

Australia’s Olympic selectors will now convene in Sydney on Tuesday with the intention of announcing the Australian team on Wednesday April 16, 2008.

Elite Men results

Gold - Simon Whitfield (CAN) 1:51:12
Silver - Rasmus Henning (DEN) 1:51:22 +:10
Bronze - Ivan Vasiliev (RUS) 1:51:33 +:21
4 - Peter Robertson (AUS) 1:51:39 +:27
5 - Tim Don (GBR) 1:51:43 +:31
6 - Reto Hug (SUI) 1:51:46 +:34
7 - Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) 1:51:54 +:42
8 - Simon Thompson (AUS) 1:52:00 +:48
9 - Hirokatsu Tayama (JPN) 1:52:04 +:52
10 - Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) 1:52:12 +1:00