Posted: September 13, 2007

Triathlon: British Triathletes go for Olympic spots at Beijing World Cup

This weekend the Great Britain triathlon team will get a preview of the Olympic course that awaits them next summer at the Beijing Summer Games. Should a British triathlete finish on the podium at the Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup they will gain pre-selection for next year’s Olympics. Will Clarke enters the race riding on a wave of momentum and confidence after his impressive fifth place showing at the recent Hamburg BG Triathlon World Championships. That performance catapulted him from number 28 to ninth in the world. Although unable to defend his world title in Hamburg as part of the Corus British Triathlon team, Tim Don will be eager to book a spot to his third Olympics whilst Stuart Hayes will be looking to improve on his eighth place World Championship finish. On the women's side, former European Champion Michelle Dillon hopes to regain the form which took her to a pair of world cup podiums earlier this year. In the last few months the top performer among the British women has been Andrea Whitcombe. The former 5000m Commonwealth Games silver medallist has posted top five finishes in Salford, Des Moines and at the European Championships in Copenhagen. Both men's and women's events will be highly competitive with star-studded fields all vying for the prestigious Beijing World Cup title. Newly crowned World Champion Vanessa Fernandes from Portugal looks to continue her mastery of Beijing with a third straight victory whilst Spain’s Javier Gomez aims to extend his impressive world cup podium streak that dates back to March 2006. With many other countries using this weekend's BG World Cup as part of their selection process, the competition will be intense. As the test event for 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Olympic standard management and operation will be adopted. British Triathlon Men’s Team for Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup: Paul Amey Will Clarke Tim Don Stuart Hayes Andrew Johns British Triathlon Women’s Team for Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup: Michelle Dillon Vanessa Raw Andrea Whitcombe The women will race on Saturday at 10am (3am BST) and the men will start on Sunday at 10am (3am BST). For further information please see www.britishtriathlon.org. 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 youth programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 500 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year including the London Triathlon, arguably the largest triathlon event in the World and the ITU World Cup race in Salford, one of the world’s leading international races. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest