Brownlee, Norden take ITU Sprint World Championships
Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) stepped up to the plate and won his first world championship title at the inaugural ITU Sprint World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. Lisa Norden (SWE) got away from Emma Moffatt (AUS) to take the women's Sprint crown.
The men
Dustin McLarty (USA) led Andrew McCartney (CAN), DAniel Unger (GER), Nikos Wilczek (GRE) and Jonathan Brownlee out of the waters of Lake Geneva.
Once on the bikes, the five leaders rode quite hard to keep all other challengers at bay, but a good sized chase group led by Greg Bennett (USA) and Cameron Dye (USA) wasn't very far behind and eventually caught up with them. When it was all said and done, 50 men arrived in T2 together and quickly charged out onto the run.
Brownlee and fellow Brit Tim Don managed to get away from the other runners and pushed very hard towards the finish line. Halfway through the run Brownlee dropped Don and took win comfortably in 52:58. Don grabbed silver and David Hauss (FRA) earned bronze.
"I guess I'm lucky because I raced as a Junior last year, and Juniors race the sprint distance," said Brownlee. "I think I have a bit more experience at this kind of race than a lot of these guys and that helped today."
The women
With the men's race already in the books, 56 women got in the water to race for the inaugural Sprint Worlds title. Moffatt pushed the pace during the swim and led a group of four women that included Norden into T1.
Moffatt and Norden soon were in the lead by themselves and were riding very strong. Switzerland's Daniela Ryf was leading the chasers but broke away from them when it appeared that the others didn't contribute enough to the chase. After riding by herself for a few kilometers, Ryf connected with Norden and Moffatt and these three athletes managed to reach the second transition about a minute ahead of the chase group.
Norden and Moffatt managed to drop Ryf as soon as they left transition and ran together until 1 km to go. That is when Norden found an extra gear and headed towards the finish line with time to spare to enjoy winning her second World Championship title. In 2007, Norden had won the U23 title in Hamburg, Germany.
"Wow, what a day. To put a senior world title to my name is something I really put value to. Also for my country this means a lot as we never had a senior world title before in the history," said a very elated Lisa Norden to slowtwitch. "Tomorrow we have a young team on the line. I will take the first leg and I'm really looking forward to it. Last year in Des Moines I was on the grand stands watching the race. It was one of the most exciting races I've ever seen! It will be great to be able to be a part of it tomorrow."
ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championship
Lausanne, Switzerland / August 21, 2010
750 meter swim / 20 km bike /5 km run
Top 10 men
1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 52:58
2. Tim Don (GBR) 53:11
3. David Hauss (FRA) 53:16
4. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 53:20
5. Dan Wilson (AUS) 53:26
6. Gregor Buchholz (GER) 53:27
7. Bryan Keane (IRL) 53:33
8. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 53:38
9. Sven Riederer (SUI) 53:42
10. Franz Loeschke (GER) 53:44
Top 10 women
1. Lisa Norden (SWE) 58:02
2. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 58:17
3. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 58:51
4. Erin Densham (AUS) 59:09
5. Felicity Abram (AUS) 59:17
6. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 59:24
7. Carole Peon (FRA) 59:31
8. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 59:35
9. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 59:43
10. Anja Dittmer (GER) 59:45
