2011 ITU Triathlon World Championships
Encyclopedia
The Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series 2011 was a series of six World Championship Triathlon
events leading to a Grand Final held in Beijing
, China
in September 2011. The Series was organised under the auspices of the world governing body of triathlon, the International Triathlon Union
(ITU), and was sponsored by Dextro Energy.
Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series visited Sydney, Yokohama, Madrid, Kitzbühel, Hamburg, London and Beijing. The series also for the first time included the ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championship
in Lausanne. The Grand Final in Beijing included the Under 23, Junior and Paratriathlon World Championships, which were decided over a single race.
Great Britain won both the men's and women's elite titles as Alistair Brownlee
and Helen Jenkins both claimed their second elite world titles. Britain also swept the medals in the men's under 23 title as Matthew Sharp led his team mates to claim his first title. Agnieszka Jerzyk claimed Poland's first ITU Triathlon world title as she won the under 23 championship. In the juniors, American Lukas Verzbicas
and New Zealand's Mikayla Nielsen also claimed their first world titles.
In the Paratriathlon world championships, titles went to Jane Egan (TRI 1), Faye McClelland (TRI 4), Charlotte Ellis (TRI 6). Titles also went to Danielle McLaughlin, Melissa Stockwell
and Jennifer Hopkins In the men's events titles went to Steven Judge (TRI 3), Yannick Bourseaux (TRI 4), Benjamin Landier (TRI 5), Bill Chaffey (TRI 1), Oswald Kydd (TRI 2), Rodrigo Feola (TRI 6).
In April, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
, the round set to take place in Yokohama
was postponed by the ITU. The ITU felt that it would be too risky to try to stage the round there when the nuclear level was near maxium. In May, it was announced that the Yokohama round would be rescheduled for September and would take place on the 18 and 19. However, as this takes place after the Grand Final, the points and money gained in Yokohama will go towards the 2012 series.
. The swim course was held in Farm Cove
with two 750 metre laps, before heading to transition outside of the Sydney Opera House
. Athletes then biked eight laps of a 5 km course that extended from the Opera House and down the Cahill Expressway and Macquarie Street. After the bike section the competitors transitioned on College Street and then proceeded to complete 4 laps of a 2.5 km run circuit down Macquarie Street before finishing the triathlon on College Street.
The competition field for the race included 2010 Grand Final winner Emma Snowsill
, who was plagued by injury in 2010, as well as all ten athletes from last year's the overall rankings were present on the men's side.
For the women, Paula Findlay
won the race, beating out Bárbara Riveros Díaz
. The two were among a group of six on the run section that included Laura Bennett
, Andrea Hewitt
, Carole Peon and Tomoko Sakimoto. Other notable finishes included 2010 World Champion Emma Moffatt
and Olympic Champion Snowsill who finished 13th and 42nd.
On the men's side, rain made the race conditions difficult. Reigning World Champion Javier Gómez
incurred a fall during the bike leg causing him to fall off the pace of the race pack for the final 10 kilometres of the bike. Gómez managed to catch the lead group; however, Jonathan Brownlee
, Alistair Brownlee
, Sven Riederer
, Brendan Sexton and David Hauss
were in front of him. Alistair fell on one of the turns during the run before falling off the pace and out of contention. Gómez eventually passed the leaders, with only Jonathan keeping pace with him for a short while. Gómez finished first with Jonathan second and Riederer third. Alistair, the 2009 World champion, finished 29th.
park. Competitors started the race by jumping into the lake, where they swam two 750 metre laps. After transition the athletes completed four 10 km laps of the park, which featured a 400 metre climb at a 12% grade. The run section featured four 2.5 km laps around the park to the finish.
In the men's race, the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Johnathan, and Gómez exited the swim first and quickly formed, with eight others, an eleven man breakaway group. At the end of the first bike lap the breakaway had accumulated a 20 second lead. Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno
bridged the gap and the now 12 man breakaway pushed on to the run section with a two minute lead. On the run the Brownlees separated themselves from the pack, along with Gómez. However, Gómez fell off the pace and finish became a one on one duel between the brothers. In the final kilometre Alistair kicked away from Jonathan before stopping in the finishing straight and walking across the line with his brother, with the Johnathan making sure that Alistair crossed first. It was the first time that both brothers had appeared on the podium and it was Alistair's third straight win in Madrid. Gómez's third place kept him at the top of the overall standings, five points ahead of Jonathan. Polyansky, who finished fifth in Madrid, rounded out the top three in the overall standings. With his win, Alistair jumped up 20 places in the standings to fifth place in the overall standings.
In the women's competition, Laura Bennett and Andrea Hewitt joined Paula Findlay at the front coming out of the swim. However, once on the bike the three women were caught and a peloton of 16 formed. At the end of the bike the lead peloton had a 30 second lead over the chasers. On the run Findlay raced away with Hewitt as the pair was pursued by Helen Jenkins and Díaz, creating a group of four. But after four kilometres Díaz dropped off the pace on the final lap and Hewitt found the pace to be too tough and dropped back only to be passed for third by Emmie Charayron
. Findlay and Jenkins were neck and neck until the final 400 metres when Findlay kicked away for her second consecutive 2011 World Series win. Paula Findlay
continued where she left off as she won, adding to her win in Sydney. With this race, Findlay had won four of her last five world series events, having won in Kitzbühel and London in 2010. After the race, the overall championship was led by Findlay with Díaz and Hewitt second and third. Bennett was fourth and Jenkins moved up to fifth.
. The bike section had athletes ride a 6.68 km course which they lapped six times. The competitors final leg was a four lap 2.5 km run course. The 1997 World Champion Chris McCormack returned to ITU triathlons for the first time since 2004 with this race. Current World Champion Javier Gómez and Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno and Jonathan Brownlee missed this event to concentrate on the European Championships which took place the week after Kitzbühel.
The men competed in cold, wet, windy conditions. Alistair Brownlee came out of the swim in the lead but was soon part of a 50 man peloton on the bike. However, Brownlee, Stuart Hayes and Reinaldo Colucci broke away to lead the field by 30 seconds entering the second transition. Once out of transition and on the run Brownlee dropped Hayes and Colucci and went on to record his second Kitzbühel win, having won previously in 2009. Behind him, Alexander Brukhankov, Brad Kahlefeldt, Sven Riederer, William Clarke and Laurent Vidal formed a group that passed Hayes and Colucci. Halfway through the run Brukhankov made a break for second place before Riederer broke on the final lap to secure third. Clarke won the battle for fourth as Kahelfeldt finished fifth and Vidal sixth. Meanwhile, McCormack's return to ITU racing triathlon was cut short as he pulled out of the race on the bike. Following the race, Alistair Brownlee lead the overall championship standings over Brukhankov with Gómez and Jonathan Brownlee now third and fourth with Riederer moving up to fifth.
In the women's race, Sarah Haskins
lead the women's field coming out of the water with Helen Jenkins next, down 20 seconds, and Paula Findlay a minute behind. Haskins and Jenkins broke away on the bike but were unable to sustain a 40 second first lap lead before being caught on the fourth lap by a chase group of 19. On the run the race came down to Findlay, Jenkins and Sarah Groff with Jenkins losing out to Findlay once again, finishing second. With the win Findlay became the most successful woman in the series' three year history with five wins. It was the Canadian's third consecutive win on the 2011 series. Elsewhere, Emma Moffatt, who fell behind the lead group on the bike, caught up to the field on the run to finish fourth. Ai Ueda had a strong run performance, passing most of the field en route to seventh place finish. In the overall standings, Findlay had a perfect score and was approximately 500 points ahead of Díaz, Hewitt, Bennett and Jenkins who rounded out the top five.
. The course has athletes dive into an artificial lake for the swim, where they complete two 750 metre laps, but have to exit the water to complete a 180 degree turn after the first lap. The bike section is technically challenging with eight sharpe corners near the bottom of the 5 km circuit which is lapped eight times. The run section has competitors complete four 2.5 km laps; however, there is a hazard as there are two 180 degree turns on each end of the course. Both Brownlee brothers missed the event and so did Paula Findlay and Helen Jenkins. Findlay missed the event with a hip injury which forced her to pull out of her home World Cup event in Edmonton.
Missing series leader Alistair Brownlee from the field there was plenty of action on the bike section. Several groups tried to breakaway to no avail as a peloton of around 50 riders hit transition two. Just before the 5 km point a group of eight at the front had been established and at this point it broke into a group of six. The six leaders were, Brad Kahlefeldt, William Clarke, David Hauss
, Javier Gómez, João Silva and Sebastian Rank. With 3 km to go reigning Hamburg champion Gómez tried to kick away from the rest, only to see two kilometeres later Hauss, Clarke and Kahlefeldt move away from him. In the last twenty metres it looked like Clarke was going to win before Kahefeldt surged past him for his first ITU World Series win. The top four all finished inside 30 minutes as Kahefeldt became the seventh man to win a round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon Series. At the halfway point in the championship it was Gómez who led the overall standings with 2026 points, with Clarke and Hauss second and third on 1935 and 1905 respectively. Sven Riederer
and Alexander Brukhankov completed the top five.
In the women's race history was made as Australia claimed all three podium spots for the first time, all who coincidentally had the first name Emma. Moffatt claimed her first win since the 2009 Grand Final drawing her level with Paula Findley for total series wins at 5. Moffatt defeated reigning world under 23 champion Jackson and 2008 Olympic Champion Snowsill into second and third. In the race itself, Lucy Hall of Great Britain led the swim with Nicola Sprig and Snowsill. Hall was caught on the first lap of the bike section as a peloton of 35 formed at the front. Moffatt led out of the final transition whilst Snowsill and Jackson started slower, but soon caught up. With five kilometres to go second place in the series, Diaz, was dropped as a Trans-Tasman battled ensured as the Australians were joined by New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt
. In the final kilometre Moffatt kicked away for the win whilst Jackson out-sprinted Snowsill for second. At the halfway point in the series with Findley missing, Diaz with sixth place was able to take the lead, 97 points in front, with Hewitt and Moffatt third and fourth overall.
, where the circuit looped itself and sent the athletes back the way they came from towards transition. The run section had the field complete four 2.5 km around the Serpentine. The course differs to that of previous editions most notably one swim loop instead of two and for the first time the course ventured outside of Hyde Park on the bike section as the athletes passed through transition a total of 12 times.
London was a key round in terms of Olympic qualification to be held over the same course, as several national associations put the event in their quailifaction criteria. Paula Findlay arrived in London with an injury and had not raced in an ITU event since Kitzbühel. Javier Gómez thought he needed extra practice after his poor results since Madrid as he won an ITU Premium European Cup event before heading to London.
Alistair Brownlee
, Alexander Bryukhankov
, James Elvery and Ivan Rana
managed to pull clear from the rest of the field on the bike. Brownlee in the run section moved away from the other three to finish 25 seconds ahead of Bryukhankov as his brother Jonathan Brownlee
and Javier Gómez picked off Elvery and Rana before Brownlee moved away from the defending World Champion. The overall series still had Gómez leading from Alistair and Bryukhankov. Several athletes pulled out including Chris McCormack with a hamstring tare. Olympic qualification was also up for grabs as Justus, Hauss and Vidal took spots, whilst Frodeno just edged out Petzold to claim the second German spot.
Whilst in the women's race, Helen Jenkins powered away from the rest of the field on the run to win. With the win Jenkins won her first World Championship series event since the format began in 2009 and booked her place on Britain's Olympic team. Despite suffering a cold Jenkins finished ahead of first time medalists Gwen Jorgensen
and Anja Dittmer
. A group of 34 formed on the bike with Diaz and Sweetland eventually bridging the gap leaving a group of 50 triathletes to go into the run section together. Jenkins surged ahead in the run to win as Jorgensen set the fastest run split to qualify for the USA and claim the silver medal. Dittmer came home for bronze after out-sprinting a group containing Snowsill, Groff and Hewitt. Hewitt and Groff qualified for London while the Australians failed to meet their nations criteria. Series leader Paula Findlay finished 19th as Diaz and Hewitt leapfrogged her in the overall championship, with London winner Jenkins in fourth.
claimed her first ITU World title when she came from fourth at the 500 metres to go point to out-sprint Hewitt, Jackson and Jenkins to the World Sprint title. In the men's race a familiar trio took the first three spots and Jonathan Brownlee successfully defended his title out kicking Gómez in the final few metres after earlier dropping his brother.
In the overall series rankings Diaz had led the women's field into Lausanne but it was Helen Jenkins who led the series into the Grand Final. The top four results in the series counts towards a persons overall ranking. Jenkins with her fourth place finish replaced her 33rd position from Sydney which had previously counted to lead Diaz by 2913 points to 2712. In the battle for third Paula Findley leads on 2637, but has been hampered with a hip injury. One point behind the Canadian is Andrea Hewitt. While Emma Jackson in her debut season on the ITU elite circuit can not be discounted on 2251 points.
In the men's series, the medals were expected to be taken from a combination of Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownlee and Javier Gómez. Alistair lept to the top of the standings after Lausanne, allowing his only non podium finish of the year, 29th in Sydney, to drop off, and now leading his brother and Gómez into the final round. The top three points look like this going into the final round: Alistair is on 3085 points, Jonathan with 2965 points, and Gómez with 2858 points. Fourth place man Alexander Brukhankov, remained a threat to the podium with 2699 points. David Hauss is also still a candidate for the podium sitting in fifth place going into Beijing on 2405 points. In Beijing, 1200 points are on offer to the winner, with 1100 to second and 1027 to third, where the 2011 World Champions will be crowned.
Over the 2008 Olympic course, Alistair would be crowned World Champion for a second time if he won the race, or if Jonathan won he needed to finish second. For Gómez he would defend his title if he won the race and the Brownlee brothers finished outside of the top three. Since 2009 when this format was adopted Alistair had won 50% of the races and had never lost a Grand Final. However Alexander Bryukhankov was not discounted and needed a big upset to win a place on the podium. Male athletes from America and New Zealand were expected to be featured in the race as neither nation had any athletes who met the qualifying standards for the Olympics in London, and they had another opportunity here to qualify.
For the women, Helen Jenkins would win her second World title if she finished on the podium in Beijing, a feat which she admitted was not a target in 2011. Findlay and Hewitt who were third and fourth in the standings coming into the event with just one point separating them, with the winner of the battle in Beijing finishing ahead of her rival. However Findlay could receive the silver medal and Hewitt the bronze if they both finished ahead of Riveros Diaz and Hewitt could get the silver medal if she beat the pair of them.
Alistair Brownlee kept his perfect Grand Final record as he claimed his second ITU World Championship and 11th World Series race win. Thirty athletes headed out of the swim together and despite numerous attempts to breakaway on the bike headed in to the run section together. A chase pack led by McCormack cut the gap to 30 seconds which then grew to 45 seconds on the final bike lap. The Brownlees went into a lead by themselves on the run but the chase was never more than 10 seconds away which included Gómez, Riederer, Alexander Brukhankov, Dmitry Polyansky, David Hauss and Laurent Vidal. On lap three Alistair dropped his brother, and Riederer and Gómez came up to him. There Gómez dropped off the pace and finished sixth while Riederer out-kicked Jonathan for second. Gómez’s sixth place was enough for him to take bronze overall as the overall podium did not change.
Helen Jenkins was crowned the 2011 ITU World Champion when she did what was required of her and finished second on the podium to claim her second individual elite world title. Andrea Hewitt won the Grand Final race to win her first World Championship series event since Madrid 2009 and finished in exactly the same time as when Snowsill won Olympic Gold in 2008
. With the New Zealander winning, Paula Findlay pulling out on the bike leg, and Riveros Diaz being hampered by illness; Hewitt claimed silver overall. Sarah Groff finished in 10th place on the day claimed to claim the overall bronze title ahead of Emma Jackson, but has to thank Emma Moffatt who over took her team mate in the last few metres. Jackson finished 12th and therefore finished just 23 points behind the American. Diaz and Findlay finished fifth and sixth in the final standings.
In the race itself a group of 15 triathletes broke away on the swim which included Jenkins, Groff and Hewitt. Only Vicky Holland and Kate Roberts fell off the group on the bike. Moffatt, Jackson, Riveros Diaz, Snowsill and Spirig in the chase group saw their deficit go from 30 seconds to 2 minutes by the second transition even with Sprig up front. Jenkins and Hewitt pulled away from the rest on the run, before the New Zealander kicked away in the last few metres to win. Melanie Annaheim managed to out-sprint Norden, Bennett and McIlroy for her first World Series medal. On the Olympic front, Harrison and McIlroy managed to qualify for France and New Zealand.
Aaron Harris and the 2010 Junior world silver medalist Tom Bishop and Matthew Sharp, with defending champion Jonathon Brownlee racing in the elite race. Also in the race were 2010 Aquathlon World Champion Richard Varga, Andrey Bryukhankov
, who's brother was fourth coming into the event in the elite standings, amongst others who were likely to feature. In the women's race the triathletes likely to feature were Zsofia Kovacs
who finished seventh at the European Championship and in her home World Cup event. Rebecca Robisch who finished 15th in the Sprint distance World Championships and All Africa Games bronze medalist
Fabienne Aline St Louis were also favourites. Maike Caelers who finished 12th in 2010 could not be ruled out.
History was created in the men's race as Great Britain became the first nation to make a clean sweep of the medals in the Under 23 category. Matthew Sharp led David McNamee and Tom Bishop home. Igor Polyanskiy and Denis Vasiliev were first out of the water for Russia but Polyanskiy had to serve a 15 second penalty for a false start. A lead group of 32 triathletes formed on the bike section until Tom Davison, Benjamin Shaw and Michael Poole broke clear. The trio had a 70 second lead going into the run section but all three were soon caught by the second lap. A group of five then formed at the front of Greg Billington, Pierre Le Corre and the British trio. Le Corre found the pace too hot and dropped off, on the bell lap Sharp broke free of the rest to win his first World title, whilst Billington dropped off to finish fourth leaving McNamee to outsprint Bishop for silver.
Two groups formed on the bike out of the swim. Wang Yingying pleased the home fans coming out of the swim first. Yuko Takahashi (JPN), Alexandra Coates (CAN), Robisch and Kaitlin Shiver were in the first group of 15, but before the 10 km point the chase pack had eliminated a 25 second gap to form a group of 25. In the run a group of 10 quickly formed including Yuliya Yelistratova and Jerzyk, Kovacs, Kyla and Alexandra Coates (CAN) and Lauren Goss. On the third lap the group began to splinter, as Kovacs led with Yelistratova, Jerzyk and Shiver chasing. Yelistratova fell off the pace on the final lap as Jerzyk outsprinted Kovacs in the final 200 metres. While Robish ran through Shiver to claim bronze. Jerzyk’s win was Poland’s first ever World Championship medal.
along with European Champion Hanna Philippin and bronze medalist Eszter Pap
. While Fanny Beisaron and Lucy Hall who both gained world series experience in 2011 could not be discounted. In the boys race Olympic medalists were again amongst the favourites. Champion, Aaron Barclay, and bronze medallist, Alois Knabl, headed the field. Also favourites in the field were Ron Darmon who finished fifth in 2010, All Africa Games bronze medalist
Wian Sullwald and European champion Justus Nieschlag.
In the women's race, Mikayla Nielsen won the junior world title. Lucy Hall led out of the 750m swim section. Hall was quickly joined on the bike by Anastasia Gorbunova, Sophie Drews and Monika Orazem. Hall and Orazem broke away and were caught by the 15 chasers at the end of the second lap on the bike. Out of transition Nielsen made her move with Ashlee Bailie and Hanna Philippin following. Nielsen though held the pair of for her first world title as Bailie came second and Philippin third.
The men's race saw Lukas Verzbicas
fulfill his promise to Kevin McDowell and win his first world title. Verzbicas had decided to return to triathlon for one more season to win the world title for McDowell. McDowell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in March and Verzbicas was sure that he would have won the world title in 2011. The American defeated European Champion Justus Nieschlag and another American, Tony Smoragiewicz in to second and third. Olympic Champion Aaron Barclay
and bronze medallist Alois Knabl were first out of the swim in a group of eight as two groups formed on the bike. Verzbicas and the rest of the chase pack caught the leaders on the first climb of the bike. On the run Verzbicaks pulled away to seal an emotional world title.
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Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
events leading to a Grand Final held in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in September 2011. The Series was organised under the auspices of the world governing body of triathlon, the International Triathlon Union
International Triathlon Union
The International Triathlon Union or ITU is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations...
(ITU), and was sponsored by Dextro Energy.
Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series visited Sydney, Yokohama, Madrid, Kitzbühel, Hamburg, London and Beijing. The series also for the first time included the ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championship
ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships
The ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships, inaugurated in 2010, involve a continuous swim-cycle-run, over distances half of the Olympic-distance, that is 750 m swim, 20 km bicycle and 5 km running. The championships are organised by the International Triathlon...
in Lausanne. The Grand Final in Beijing included the Under 23, Junior and Paratriathlon World Championships, which were decided over a single race.
Great Britain won both the men's and women's elite titles as Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Edward Brownlee is an English triathlete who is the reigning, and back-to-back, ETU European Triathlon champion and a two time Triathlon World Champion having regained the title he first won in 2009 in 2011 in Beijing....
and Helen Jenkins both claimed their second elite world titles. Britain also swept the medals in the men's under 23 title as Matthew Sharp led his team mates to claim his first title. Agnieszka Jerzyk claimed Poland's first ITU Triathlon world title as she won the under 23 championship. In the juniors, American Lukas Verzbicas
Lukas Verzbicas
Lukas Verzbicas is a Lithuanian long-distance runner and triathlete. He won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 2009 and in 2010 , and the Nike Cross Nationals invitational in 2010 , becoming the first runner to win both FLCC and NXN in the same year, and only the third to win FLCC...
and New Zealand's Mikayla Nielsen also claimed their first world titles.
In the Paratriathlon world championships, titles went to Jane Egan (TRI 1), Faye McClelland (TRI 4), Charlotte Ellis (TRI 6). Titles also went to Danielle McLaughlin, Melissa Stockwell
Melissa Stockwell
Melissa Stockwell is an American paratriathlete and former swimmer and U.S. Army officer. A first lieutenant, she was the first woman soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq War. She lost her left leg when a roadside bomb exploded when she was leading a convoy in Baghdad. For her service in Iraq she was...
and Jennifer Hopkins In the men's events titles went to Steven Judge (TRI 3), Yannick Bourseaux (TRI 4), Benjamin Landier (TRI 5), Bill Chaffey (TRI 1), Oswald Kydd (TRI 2), Rodrigo Feola (TRI 6).
Points and prize money
Points were awarded to the top 40 in the World Championship Series and went to the top 50 in the Grand Final. Each World Series event had a prize fund of $150,000 and the Grand Final had a pool of $250,000. The overall rankings had a $500,000 bonus prize fund, awarded after the Grand Final making it the biggest payday in Triathlon.| Position | Grand Final | World Championship Series& Sprint World Championships |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1200 | 800 |
| 2 | 1110 | 740 |
| 3 | 1027 | 685 |
| 4 | 950 | 633 |
| 5 | 879 | 586 |
| 6 | 813 | 542 |
| 7 | 752 | 501 |
| 8 | 695 | 464 |
| 9 | 643 | 429 |
| 10 | 595 | 397 |
| Position | World Championship Series& Sprint World Championships |
Grand Final | Bonus Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18,000 | $30,000 | $55,000 |
| 2 | $13,000 | $22,000 | $42,000 |
| 3 | $9,500 | $16,000 | $30,000 |
| 4 | $7,000 | $12,000 | $20,000 |
| 5 | $5,300 | $9,300 | $16,000 |
| 6 | $4,300 | $7,500 | $12,000 |
| 7 | $3,600 | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| 8 | $3,000 | $4,800 | $8,000 |
| 9 | $2,500 | $3,800 | $7,500 |
| 10 | $2,100 | $3,200 | $7,000 |
Calendar
The 2011 series visited three Olympic courses, Sydney, Beijing for the grand final and the 2012 Olympic course in London. In addition, the series also had the 2007 World Championship course of Hamburg and was scheduled to return to Yokohama. For the first time ever the series included the Sprint World Championships which contributed to the 2011 World Championship series.| Date | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| April 9–10 |  SydneySydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... |
Event |
| 14 May |  YokohamaYokohama is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu... |
Event |
| June 4–5 |  MadridMadrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... |
Event |
| June 18–19 |  KitzbühelKitzbühel -Demographic evolution:-Personalities:*Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre , entomologist and botanist*Alfons Walde , expressionist painter and architect*Peter Aufschnaiter , mountaineer and geographer... |
Event |
| July 16–17 |  HamburgHamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... |
Event |
| August 6–7 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
Event |
| August 20–21 | Lausanne Lausanne Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west... |
Sprint Distance |
| September 10–11 |  BeijingBeijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... |
Grand Final |
In April, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
, the round set to take place in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
was postponed by the ITU. The ITU felt that it would be too risky to try to stage the round there when the nuclear level was near maxium. In May, it was announced that the Yokohama round would be rescheduled for September and would take place on the 18 and 19. However, as this takes place after the Grand Final, the points and money gained in Yokohama will go towards the 2012 series.
Series
The overall World Champion is the triathlete with the highest score from four series events added to their points total from the Grand Final. A triathlete may also take their score from a minimum of two ITU World Series events, including the Sprint World Championship, and two World Cup events to be eligible for the top 20 in the rankings in addition to their Grand Final score. All events will be ran over the Olympic distance of a 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and a 10 km run, with the exception of the Sprint World Championship, which will be held over half the distance.Sydney
The 2011 series began in Sydney, Australia and was held on the course that hosted the first Olympic games triathlon in 2000Triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Triathlon made its Olympic Games debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The sport consists of three different disciplines, competed consecutively with no rest between them.The Olympic distances for the three disciplines are:...
. The swim course was held in Farm Cove
Farm Cove, New South Wales
Farm Cove is a tidal inlet and shallow bay in Sydney Harbour, separated from Sydney Cove by Bennelong Point . Known to the indigenous inhabitants of Sydney as Woccanmagully, Farm Cove was used by them as an initiation ground and for the "Kangaroo and Dog Dance".The land immediately adjacent to Farm...
with two 750 metre laps, before heading to transition outside of the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
. Athletes then biked eight laps of a 5 km course that extended from the Opera House and down the Cahill Expressway and Macquarie Street. After the bike section the competitors transitioned on College Street and then proceeded to complete 4 laps of a 2.5 km run circuit down Macquarie Street before finishing the triathlon on College Street.
The competition field for the race included 2010 Grand Final winner Emma Snowsill
Emma Snowsill
Emma Laura Snowsill OAM is an Australian professional triathlete and multiple gold medalist in the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games...
, who was plagued by injury in 2010, as well as all ten athletes from last year's the overall rankings were present on the men's side.
For the women, Paula Findlay
Paula Findlay
Paula Findlay is a Canadian triathlete.Findlay finished third at the 2009 Under-23 World Championships....
won the race, beating out Bárbara Riveros Díaz
Bárbara Riveros Díaz
Bárbara Catalina Riveros Díaz is a professional Chilean triathlete, 2008 Olympian, and currently she is the number two in the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series Rankings 2011, behind Helen Jenkins.In France, Bárbara Riveros takes part in the prestigious Club Championship Series...
. The two were among a group of six on the run section that included Laura Bennett
Laura Bennett
Laura Eugenia Bennett is an American architect and fashion designer and one of the four finalists on Bravo's July 2006's Project Runway .-Biography:...
, Andrea Hewitt
Andrea Hewitt
Andrea Hewitt , is a professional triathlete, she placed third in the World Championship Series of 2009 and took part in the Olympic Games of 2008.- Biography :...
, Carole Peon and Tomoko Sakimoto. Other notable finishes included 2010 World Champion Emma Moffatt
Emma Moffatt
Emma Moffatt is an Australian professional triathlete. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and won the gold at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in 2009 and 2010. She was born in Moree, New South Wales....
and Olympic Champion Snowsill who finished 13th and 42nd.
On the men's side, rain made the race conditions difficult. Reigning World Champion Javier Gómez
Francisco Javier Gómez Noya
Francisco Javier Gómez Noya is a Spanish triathlete.Born to Spanish immigrants in Basel, Switzerland, he soon returned to Spain and now lives in Ferrol, Galicia...
incurred a fall during the bike leg causing him to fall off the pace of the race pack for the final 10 kilometres of the bike. Gómez managed to catch the lead group; however, Jonathan Brownlee
Jonathan Brownlee
Jonathan Brownlee is a professional English duathlete and triathlete. Brownlee is the two time and reigning World Sprint Triathlon Champion and is the former Under 23 Trathlon World Champion...
, Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Edward Brownlee is an English triathlete who is the reigning, and back-to-back, ETU European Triathlon champion and a two time Triathlon World Champion having regained the title he first won in 2009 in 2011 in Beijing....
, Sven Riederer
Sven Riederer
Sven Riederer is an athlete from Switzerland, who competes in triathlon. Riederer competed at the second Olympic triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal with a time of 1:51:33.26, 25.5 seconds behind the leader after the nearly two-hour race.-External...
, Brendan Sexton and David Hauss
David Hauss
David Hauss is a professional French triathlete and bronze medalist at the European Championships 2010. Thanks to his 7th position at the World Championship Series triathlon in London , together with Laurent Vidal, he is definitely qualified for the Olympic Games 2012.David Hauss is number 6 in...
were in front of him. Alistair fell on one of the turns during the run before falling off the pace and out of contention. Gómez eventually passed the leaders, with only Jonathan keeping pace with him for a short while. Gómez finished first with Jonathan second and Riederer third. Alistair, the 2009 World champion, finished 29th.
Madrid
The Madrid course was based in Casa de CampoCasa de Campo
The Casa de Campo is the largest urban park situated west of central Madrid, . It was formerly a royal hunting estate. Its area is more than ....
park. Competitors started the race by jumping into the lake, where they swam two 750 metre laps. After transition the athletes completed four 10 km laps of the park, which featured a 400 metre climb at a 12% grade. The run section featured four 2.5 km laps around the park to the finish.
In the men's race, the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Johnathan, and Gómez exited the swim first and quickly formed, with eight others, an eleven man breakaway group. At the end of the first bike lap the breakaway had accumulated a 20 second lead. Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno
Jan Frodeno
Jan Frodeno is a German triathlete. He won gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.Born in Cologne, Frodeno started out as a swimmer in South Africa at the age of 15, and he entered triathlon in 2000. He then went to Germany to compete in the Bundesliga, and qualified for the national team in...
bridged the gap and the now 12 man breakaway pushed on to the run section with a two minute lead. On the run the Brownlees separated themselves from the pack, along with Gómez. However, Gómez fell off the pace and finish became a one on one duel between the brothers. In the final kilometre Alistair kicked away from Jonathan before stopping in the finishing straight and walking across the line with his brother, with the Johnathan making sure that Alistair crossed first. It was the first time that both brothers had appeared on the podium and it was Alistair's third straight win in Madrid. Gómez's third place kept him at the top of the overall standings, five points ahead of Jonathan. Polyansky, who finished fifth in Madrid, rounded out the top three in the overall standings. With his win, Alistair jumped up 20 places in the standings to fifth place in the overall standings.
In the women's competition, Laura Bennett and Andrea Hewitt joined Paula Findlay at the front coming out of the swim. However, once on the bike the three women were caught and a peloton of 16 formed. At the end of the bike the lead peloton had a 30 second lead over the chasers. On the run Findlay raced away with Hewitt as the pair was pursued by Helen Jenkins and Díaz, creating a group of four. But after four kilometres Díaz dropped off the pace on the final lap and Hewitt found the pace to be too tough and dropped back only to be passed for third by Emmie Charayron
Emmie Charayron
Emmie Charayron , the common form used also by the ITU for Emma Charayron, is a professional French triathlete, European Champion of the year 2011, ten times French Champion in various age categories, and both European and World Champion in the Junior class of the year 2009, and U23 World...
. Findlay and Jenkins were neck and neck until the final 400 metres when Findlay kicked away for her second consecutive 2011 World Series win. Paula Findlay
Paula Findlay
Paula Findlay is a Canadian triathlete.Findlay finished third at the 2009 Under-23 World Championships....
continued where she left off as she won, adding to her win in Sydney. With this race, Findlay had won four of her last five world series events, having won in Kitzbühel and London in 2010. After the race, the overall championship was led by Findlay with Díaz and Hewitt second and third. Bennett was fourth and Jenkins moved up to fifth.
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel is one of the smallest venues of the series, despite this, the venue has been on the series since its inception. The triathlon began with two 750 metre laps around Schwarzsee LakeSchwarzsee (Kitzbühel)
Schwarzsee is a lake of Tyrol, Austria....
. The bike section had athletes ride a 6.68 km course which they lapped six times. The competitors final leg was a four lap 2.5 km run course. The 1997 World Champion Chris McCormack returned to ITU triathlons for the first time since 2004 with this race. Current World Champion Javier Gómez and Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno and Jonathan Brownlee missed this event to concentrate on the European Championships which took place the week after Kitzbühel.
The men competed in cold, wet, windy conditions. Alistair Brownlee came out of the swim in the lead but was soon part of a 50 man peloton on the bike. However, Brownlee, Stuart Hayes and Reinaldo Colucci broke away to lead the field by 30 seconds entering the second transition. Once out of transition and on the run Brownlee dropped Hayes and Colucci and went on to record his second Kitzbühel win, having won previously in 2009. Behind him, Alexander Brukhankov, Brad Kahlefeldt, Sven Riederer, William Clarke and Laurent Vidal formed a group that passed Hayes and Colucci. Halfway through the run Brukhankov made a break for second place before Riederer broke on the final lap to secure third. Clarke won the battle for fourth as Kahelfeldt finished fifth and Vidal sixth. Meanwhile, McCormack's return to ITU racing triathlon was cut short as he pulled out of the race on the bike. Following the race, Alistair Brownlee lead the overall championship standings over Brukhankov with Gómez and Jonathan Brownlee now third and fourth with Riederer moving up to fifth.
In the women's race, Sarah Haskins
Sarah Haskins (triathlete)
Sarah Haskins is an American triathlete from St. Louis, Missouri. She competed in triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and is the 2011 Pan American Games Gold medalist.-Education:...
lead the women's field coming out of the water with Helen Jenkins next, down 20 seconds, and Paula Findlay a minute behind. Haskins and Jenkins broke away on the bike but were unable to sustain a 40 second first lap lead before being caught on the fourth lap by a chase group of 19. On the run the race came down to Findlay, Jenkins and Sarah Groff with Jenkins losing out to Findlay once again, finishing second. With the win Findlay became the most successful woman in the series' three year history with five wins. It was the Canadian's third consecutive win on the 2011 series. Elsewhere, Emma Moffatt, who fell behind the lead group on the bike, caught up to the field on the run to finish fourth. Ai Ueda had a strong run performance, passing most of the field en route to seventh place finish. In the overall standings, Findlay had a perfect score and was approximately 500 points ahead of Díaz, Hewitt, Bennett and Jenkins who rounded out the top five.
Hamburg
Hamburg is the longest standing venue on the series, having hosted international events since 2002 including the 2007 World Championships2007 ITU Triathlon World Championships
The 2007 ITU Triathlon World Championships were held in Hamburg, Germany on 30 August – 2 September, 2007.-Medal summary:-References:*...
. The course has athletes dive into an artificial lake for the swim, where they complete two 750 metre laps, but have to exit the water to complete a 180 degree turn after the first lap. The bike section is technically challenging with eight sharpe corners near the bottom of the 5 km circuit which is lapped eight times. The run section has competitors complete four 2.5 km laps; however, there is a hazard as there are two 180 degree turns on each end of the course. Both Brownlee brothers missed the event and so did Paula Findlay and Helen Jenkins. Findlay missed the event with a hip injury which forced her to pull out of her home World Cup event in Edmonton.
Missing series leader Alistair Brownlee from the field there was plenty of action on the bike section. Several groups tried to breakaway to no avail as a peloton of around 50 riders hit transition two. Just before the 5 km point a group of eight at the front had been established and at this point it broke into a group of six. The six leaders were, Brad Kahlefeldt, William Clarke, David Hauss
David Hauss
David Hauss is a professional French triathlete and bronze medalist at the European Championships 2010. Thanks to his 7th position at the World Championship Series triathlon in London , together with Laurent Vidal, he is definitely qualified for the Olympic Games 2012.David Hauss is number 6 in...
, Javier Gómez, João Silva and Sebastian Rank. With 3 km to go reigning Hamburg champion Gómez tried to kick away from the rest, only to see two kilometeres later Hauss, Clarke and Kahlefeldt move away from him. In the last twenty metres it looked like Clarke was going to win before Kahefeldt surged past him for his first ITU World Series win. The top four all finished inside 30 minutes as Kahefeldt became the seventh man to win a round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon Series. At the halfway point in the championship it was Gómez who led the overall standings with 2026 points, with Clarke and Hauss second and third on 1935 and 1905 respectively. Sven Riederer
Sven Riederer
Sven Riederer is an athlete from Switzerland, who competes in triathlon. Riederer competed at the second Olympic triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal with a time of 1:51:33.26, 25.5 seconds behind the leader after the nearly two-hour race.-External...
and Alexander Brukhankov completed the top five.
In the women's race history was made as Australia claimed all three podium spots for the first time, all who coincidentally had the first name Emma. Moffatt claimed her first win since the 2009 Grand Final drawing her level with Paula Findley for total series wins at 5. Moffatt defeated reigning world under 23 champion Jackson and 2008 Olympic Champion Snowsill into second and third. In the race itself, Lucy Hall of Great Britain led the swim with Nicola Sprig and Snowsill. Hall was caught on the first lap of the bike section as a peloton of 35 formed at the front. Moffatt led out of the final transition whilst Snowsill and Jackson started slower, but soon caught up. With five kilometres to go second place in the series, Diaz, was dropped as a Trans-Tasman battled ensured as the Australians were joined by New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt
Andrea Hewitt
Andrea Hewitt , is a professional triathlete, she placed third in the World Championship Series of 2009 and took part in the Olympic Games of 2008.- Biography :...
. In the final kilometre Moffatt kicked away for the win whilst Jackson out-sprinted Snowsill for second. At the halfway point in the series with Findley missing, Diaz with sixth place was able to take the lead, 97 points in front, with Hewitt and Moffatt third and fourth overall.
London
London has been on the circuit since the beginning, and this was the last chance for athletes the run the Olympic course. The swim consisted of one 1.5 km lap in The Serpentine. The athletes then complete seven laps of the cycle circuit taking in Hyde Park Corner, before leaving Hyde Park itself and down Constitution Hill to Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, where the circuit looped itself and sent the athletes back the way they came from towards transition. The run section had the field complete four 2.5 km around the Serpentine. The course differs to that of previous editions most notably one swim loop instead of two and for the first time the course ventured outside of Hyde Park on the bike section as the athletes passed through transition a total of 12 times.
London was a key round in terms of Olympic qualification to be held over the same course, as several national associations put the event in their quailifaction criteria. Paula Findlay arrived in London with an injury and had not raced in an ITU event since Kitzbühel. Javier Gómez thought he needed extra practice after his poor results since Madrid as he won an ITU Premium European Cup event before heading to London.
Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Brownlee
Alistair Edward Brownlee is an English triathlete who is the reigning, and back-to-back, ETU European Triathlon champion and a two time Triathlon World Champion having regained the title he first won in 2009 in 2011 in Beijing....
, Alexander Bryukhankov
Alexander Bryukhankov
Alexander Alexandrovich Bryukhankov is a professional Russian triathlete, Russian Elite Champion of the year 2011, 2008 Olympian, and a member of the Russian National Team...
, James Elvery and Ivan Rana
Iván Raña
Iván Raña Fuentes is a Spanish triathlete.-Athletic career:Raña participated in the first Olympic triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He took fifth place with a total time of 1:49:10.88....
managed to pull clear from the rest of the field on the bike. Brownlee in the run section moved away from the other three to finish 25 seconds ahead of Bryukhankov as his brother Jonathan Brownlee
Jonathan Brownlee
Jonathan Brownlee is a professional English duathlete and triathlete. Brownlee is the two time and reigning World Sprint Triathlon Champion and is the former Under 23 Trathlon World Champion...
and Javier Gómez picked off Elvery and Rana before Brownlee moved away from the defending World Champion. The overall series still had Gómez leading from Alistair and Bryukhankov. Several athletes pulled out including Chris McCormack with a hamstring tare. Olympic qualification was also up for grabs as Justus, Hauss and Vidal took spots, whilst Frodeno just edged out Petzold to claim the second German spot.
Whilst in the women's race, Helen Jenkins powered away from the rest of the field on the run to win. With the win Jenkins won her first World Championship series event since the format began in 2009 and booked her place on Britain's Olympic team. Despite suffering a cold Jenkins finished ahead of first time medalists Gwen Jorgensen
Gwen Jorgensen
Gwen Rosemary Jorgensen is a professional American triathlete and a member of the 2012 Olympic Team.It was not until 2010 that Gwen Jorgensen turned to triathlon...
and Anja Dittmer
Anja Dittmer
Anja Dittmer is an athlete from Germany, who competes in triathlon.The winner of the 1999 European Championships, Dittmer competed at the first Olympic triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She took eighteenth place with a total time of 2:04:36.88...
. A group of 34 formed on the bike with Diaz and Sweetland eventually bridging the gap leaving a group of 50 triathletes to go into the run section together. Jenkins surged ahead in the run to win as Jorgensen set the fastest run split to qualify for the USA and claim the silver medal. Dittmer came home for bronze after out-sprinting a group containing Snowsill, Groff and Hewitt. Hewitt and Groff qualified for London while the Australians failed to meet their nations criteria. Series leader Paula Findlay finished 19th as Diaz and Hewitt leapfrogged her in the overall championship, with London winner Jenkins in fourth.
Lausanne
Barbara Riveros DiazBárbara Riveros Díaz
Bárbara Catalina Riveros Díaz is a professional Chilean triathlete, 2008 Olympian, and currently she is the number two in the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series Rankings 2011, behind Helen Jenkins.In France, Bárbara Riveros takes part in the prestigious Club Championship Series...
claimed her first ITU World title when she came from fourth at the 500 metres to go point to out-sprint Hewitt, Jackson and Jenkins to the World Sprint title. In the men's race a familiar trio took the first three spots and Jonathan Brownlee successfully defended his title out kicking Gómez in the final few metres after earlier dropping his brother.
In the overall series rankings Diaz had led the women's field into Lausanne but it was Helen Jenkins who led the series into the Grand Final. The top four results in the series counts towards a persons overall ranking. Jenkins with her fourth place finish replaced her 33rd position from Sydney which had previously counted to lead Diaz by 2913 points to 2712. In the battle for third Paula Findley leads on 2637, but has been hampered with a hip injury. One point behind the Canadian is Andrea Hewitt. While Emma Jackson in her debut season on the ITU elite circuit can not be discounted on 2251 points.
In the men's series, the medals were expected to be taken from a combination of Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownlee and Javier Gómez. Alistair lept to the top of the standings after Lausanne, allowing his only non podium finish of the year, 29th in Sydney, to drop off, and now leading his brother and Gómez into the final round. The top three points look like this going into the final round: Alistair is on 3085 points, Jonathan with 2965 points, and Gómez with 2858 points. Fourth place man Alexander Brukhankov, remained a threat to the podium with 2699 points. David Hauss is also still a candidate for the podium sitting in fifth place going into Beijing on 2405 points. In Beijing, 1200 points are on offer to the winner, with 1100 to second and 1027 to third, where the 2011 World Champions will be crowned.
Beijing
Beijing hosted the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series 2011 Grand Final where double points were available. This was the first time since the 2008 Olympics that the world series has come to Beijing. The competitors started the grand final by jumping into the Chang Ping reservoir for one 1.5 km lap. After the swim the bike section covered a 6.6 km course which was partly hilly and technically challenging. It was lapped six times. The run section was held over four 2.5 km laps on a hilly courseOver the 2008 Olympic course, Alistair would be crowned World Champion for a second time if he won the race, or if Jonathan won he needed to finish second. For Gómez he would defend his title if he won the race and the Brownlee brothers finished outside of the top three. Since 2009 when this format was adopted Alistair had won 50% of the races and had never lost a Grand Final. However Alexander Bryukhankov was not discounted and needed a big upset to win a place on the podium. Male athletes from America and New Zealand were expected to be featured in the race as neither nation had any athletes who met the qualifying standards for the Olympics in London, and they had another opportunity here to qualify.
For the women, Helen Jenkins would win her second World title if she finished on the podium in Beijing, a feat which she admitted was not a target in 2011. Findlay and Hewitt who were third and fourth in the standings coming into the event with just one point separating them, with the winner of the battle in Beijing finishing ahead of her rival. However Findlay could receive the silver medal and Hewitt the bronze if they both finished ahead of Riveros Diaz and Hewitt could get the silver medal if she beat the pair of them.
Alistair Brownlee kept his perfect Grand Final record as he claimed his second ITU World Championship and 11th World Series race win. Thirty athletes headed out of the swim together and despite numerous attempts to breakaway on the bike headed in to the run section together. A chase pack led by McCormack cut the gap to 30 seconds which then grew to 45 seconds on the final bike lap. The Brownlees went into a lead by themselves on the run but the chase was never more than 10 seconds away which included Gómez, Riederer, Alexander Brukhankov, Dmitry Polyansky, David Hauss and Laurent Vidal. On lap three Alistair dropped his brother, and Riederer and Gómez came up to him. There Gómez dropped off the pace and finished sixth while Riederer out-kicked Jonathan for second. Gómez’s sixth place was enough for him to take bronze overall as the overall podium did not change.
Helen Jenkins was crowned the 2011 ITU World Champion when she did what was required of her and finished second on the podium to claim her second individual elite world title. Andrea Hewitt won the Grand Final race to win her first World Championship series event since Madrid 2009 and finished in exactly the same time as when Snowsill won Olympic Gold in 2008
Triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's
The women's triathlon was part of the triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics programme. It was the third appearance of the event, which was established in 2000. The race was held over the "international distance" and consisted of swimming, , road bicycling, and road running...
. With the New Zealander winning, Paula Findlay pulling out on the bike leg, and Riveros Diaz being hampered by illness; Hewitt claimed silver overall. Sarah Groff finished in 10th place on the day claimed to claim the overall bronze title ahead of Emma Jackson, but has to thank Emma Moffatt who over took her team mate in the last few metres. Jackson finished 12th and therefore finished just 23 points behind the American. Diaz and Findlay finished fifth and sixth in the final standings.
In the race itself a group of 15 triathletes broke away on the swim which included Jenkins, Groff and Hewitt. Only Vicky Holland and Kate Roberts fell off the group on the bike. Moffatt, Jackson, Riveros Diaz, Snowsill and Spirig in the chase group saw their deficit go from 30 seconds to 2 minutes by the second transition even with Sprig up front. Jenkins and Hewitt pulled away from the rest on the run, before the New Zealander kicked away in the last few metres to win. Melanie Annaheim managed to out-sprint Norden, Bennett and McIlroy for her first World Series medal. On the Olympic front, Harrison and McIlroy managed to qualify for France and New Zealand.
Under 23 World Championships
The under 23 races are held over the same course as the elite races. Great Britain head the men's field with the Silver medalist from the Tiszaujavorous World Cup race2011 ITU Triathlon World Cup
The 2011 ITU Triathlon World Cup was a series of triathlon races organised by the International Triathlon Union for elite-level triathletes to be held during the 2011 season. For 2011, nine races were announced as part of the World Cup series. The ninth and final race in Auckland, New Zealand was...
Aaron Harris and the 2010 Junior world silver medalist Tom Bishop and Matthew Sharp, with defending champion Jonathon Brownlee racing in the elite race. Also in the race were 2010 Aquathlon World Champion Richard Varga, Andrey Bryukhankov
Andrey Bryukhankov
Andrey Alexandrovich Bryukhankov is a professional Russian triathlete, bronze medalist at the Russian Elite Aquathlon Championships and bronze medalist at the Russian U23 Triathlon Championships of the year 2011, and a member of the Russian National Team...
, who's brother was fourth coming into the event in the elite standings, amongst others who were likely to feature. In the women's race the triathletes likely to feature were Zsofia Kovacs
Zsófia Kovács
Zsófia Kovács is a professional Hungarian triathlete, winner of the Hungarian Cup 2010 and member of the National Team....
who finished seventh at the European Championship and in her home World Cup event. Rebecca Robisch who finished 15th in the Sprint distance World Championships and All Africa Games bronze medalist
Triathlon at the 2011 All-Africa Games
The Triathlon competitions at the 2011 All-Africa Games were held on Sunday, September 4 in Bilene. Both the men's and women's events were held on the same day.- Events :...
Fabienne Aline St Louis were also favourites. Maike Caelers who finished 12th in 2010 could not be ruled out.
History was created in the men's race as Great Britain became the first nation to make a clean sweep of the medals in the Under 23 category. Matthew Sharp led David McNamee and Tom Bishop home. Igor Polyanskiy and Denis Vasiliev were first out of the water for Russia but Polyanskiy had to serve a 15 second penalty for a false start. A lead group of 32 triathletes formed on the bike section until Tom Davison, Benjamin Shaw and Michael Poole broke clear. The trio had a 70 second lead going into the run section but all three were soon caught by the second lap. A group of five then formed at the front of Greg Billington, Pierre Le Corre and the British trio. Le Corre found the pace too hot and dropped off, on the bell lap Sharp broke free of the rest to win his first World title, whilst Billington dropped off to finish fourth leaving McNamee to outsprint Bishop for silver.
Two groups formed on the bike out of the swim. Wang Yingying pleased the home fans coming out of the swim first. Yuko Takahashi (JPN), Alexandra Coates (CAN), Robisch and Kaitlin Shiver were in the first group of 15, but before the 10 km point the chase pack had eliminated a 25 second gap to form a group of 25. In the run a group of 10 quickly formed including Yuliya Yelistratova and Jerzyk, Kovacs, Kyla and Alexandra Coates (CAN) and Lauren Goss. On the third lap the group began to splinter, as Kovacs led with Yelistratova, Jerzyk and Shiver chasing. Yelistratova fell off the pace on the final lap as Jerzyk outsprinted Kovacs in the final 200 metres. While Robish ran through Shiver to claim bronze. Jerzyk’s win was Poland’s first ever World Championship medal.
Junior World Championships
The junior world championships were held over a sprint distance triathlon. The race featured a 750m swim, 20 km ride and 5 km run and was open to triathletes who were 19 or younger. 2010 champion Ashleigh Gentle would not defend her title as she was not racing in the event. 2010 Youth Olympic Games medalists were expected to be prominent in the race. Kelly Whitley of America who finished fourth in 2010 and claimed a bronze in Singapore was one of the favourites. As was Olympic champion and European silver medalist Eszter DudasEszter Dudás
Eszter Dudás is a professional Hungarian triathlete, European Junior Vice Champion of the year 2011, and, like Eszter Pap and Zsófia Tóth, a member of the Heraklesz High Performance Team....
along with European Champion Hanna Philippin and bronze medalist Eszter Pap
Eszter Pap
Eszter Pap is a professional Hungarian triathlete and European Championships bronze medalist of the year 2011.Since 2008 she has been a member of the Heraklesz high performance team.- Sports career :...
. While Fanny Beisaron and Lucy Hall who both gained world series experience in 2011 could not be discounted. In the boys race Olympic medalists were again amongst the favourites. Champion, Aaron Barclay, and bronze medallist, Alois Knabl, headed the field. Also favourites in the field were Ron Darmon who finished fifth in 2010, All Africa Games bronze medalist
Triathlon at the 2011 All-Africa Games
The Triathlon competitions at the 2011 All-Africa Games were held on Sunday, September 4 in Bilene. Both the men's and women's events were held on the same day.- Events :...
Wian Sullwald and European champion Justus Nieschlag.
In the women's race, Mikayla Nielsen won the junior world title. Lucy Hall led out of the 750m swim section. Hall was quickly joined on the bike by Anastasia Gorbunova, Sophie Drews and Monika Orazem. Hall and Orazem broke away and were caught by the 15 chasers at the end of the second lap on the bike. Out of transition Nielsen made her move with Ashlee Bailie and Hanna Philippin following. Nielsen though held the pair of for her first world title as Bailie came second and Philippin third.
The men's race saw Lukas Verzbicas
Lukas Verzbicas
Lukas Verzbicas is a Lithuanian long-distance runner and triathlete. He won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 2009 and in 2010 , and the Nike Cross Nationals invitational in 2010 , becoming the first runner to win both FLCC and NXN in the same year, and only the third to win FLCC...
fulfill his promise to Kevin McDowell and win his first world title. Verzbicas had decided to return to triathlon for one more season to win the world title for McDowell. McDowell was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in March and Verzbicas was sure that he would have won the world title in 2011. The American defeated European Champion Justus Nieschlag and another American, Tony Smoragiewicz in to second and third. Olympic Champion Aaron Barclay
Aaron Barclay
Aaron Barclay is a triathlete who represents New Zealand internationally. He competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore and won the first-ever gold medal awarded for the boys' event. Barclay also subsequently won a silver medal in the mixed relay event, competing for a team...
and bronze medallist Alois Knabl were first out of the swim in a group of eight as two groups formed on the bike. Verzbicas and the rest of the chase pack caught the leaders on the first climb of the bike. On the run Verzbicaks pulled away to seal an emotional world title.
Paratriathlon World Championships
Great Britain dominated in the Paratriathlon taking the top two spots in four of the 12 categories. Jane Egan and Elizabeth McTernan in TRI 1, Faye McClelland (GBR) and Clare Cunningham in TRI 4, Charlotte Ellis and Sara Butler in TRI 6 and Steven Judge and James Smith claiming top two positions for Great Britain. America took the top three spots in the TRI 2 event while Canada collected Gold and Bronze, separated by the USA in TRI 3. America also took Gold in Tri 5 thanks to Danielle McLaughlin. France claimed the TRI 4 and TRI 5 titles on the men’s side. Bill Chaffey and Oswald Kydd won TRI 1 and 2, while Rodrigo Feola won TRI 6.Men
| Sydney | |||
| Madrid | |||
| Kitzbühel | |||
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| Lausanne | |||
| Beijing | |||
| Final Ranking |
Women
| Sydney | |||
| Madrid | |||
| Kitzbühel | |||
| Hamburg | |||
| London | |||
| Lausanne | |||
| Beijing | |||
| Final Ranking |
Sydney
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
 |
1:50:22 | |
 |
1:50:29 | |
 |
1:50:34 | |
| 4 | 1:50:40 | |
| 5 | 1:50:49 | |
| 6 | 1:50:58 | |
| 7 | 1:51:04 | |
| 8 | 1:51:17 | |
| 9 | 1:51:19 | |
| 10 | 1:51:26 |
Madrid
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:51:06 | |
|
1:51:09 | |
|
1:51:51 | |
| 4 | 1:52:02 | |
| 5 | 1:52:30 | |
| 6 | 1:52:43 | |
| 7 | 1:52:45 | |
| 8 | 1:52:49 | |
| 9 | 1:53:01 | |
| 10 | 1:53:04 |
Kitzbühel
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:51:54 | |
|
1:52:38 | |
|
1:52:59 | |
| 4 | 1:53:08 | |
| 5 | 1:53:10 | |
| 6 | 1:53:13 | |
| 7 | 1:53:17 | |
| 8 | 1:53:20 | |
| 9 | 1:53:23 | |
| 10 | 1:53:26 |
Hamburg
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:44:08 | |
|
1:44:09 | |
|
1:44:09 | |
| 4 | 1:44:12 | |
| 5 | 1:44:16 | |
| 6 | 1:44:19 | |
| 7 | 1:44:33 | |
| 8 | 1:44:35 | |
| 9 | 1:44:44 | |
| 10 | 1:44:56 |
London
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:50:09 | |
|
1:50:34 | |
|
1:51:04 | |
| 4 | 1:51:16 | |
| 5 | 1:51:25 | |
| 6 | 1:51:27 | |
| 7 | 1:51:32 | |
| 8 | 1:51:40 | |
| 9 | 1:51:41 | |
| 10 | 1:51:41 |
Lausanne
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
0:52:23 | |
|
0:52:27 | |
|
0:52:38 | |
| 4 | 0:52:41 | |
| 5 | 0:52:42 | |
| 6 | 0:52:43 | |
| 7 | 0:52:44 | |
| 8 | 0:52:52 | |
| 9 | 0:52:55 | |
| 10 | 0:53:02 |
Grand Final: Beijing
>
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
01:48:07 | |
|
01:48:14 | |
|
01:48:17 | |
| 4 | 01:48:20 | |
| 5 | 01:48:24 | |
| 6 | 01:48:27 | |
| 7 | 01:48:35 | |
| 8 | 01:48:44 | |
| 9 | 01:48:46 | |
| 10 | 01:48:50 |
Overall
| Rank | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
|
4285 | |
|
3992 | |
|
3671 | |
| 4 | 3306 | |
| 5 | 3208 | |
| 6 | 3157 | |
| 7 | 2844 | |
| 8 | 2764 | |
| 9 | 2495 | |
| 10 | 2217 |
Sydney
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
2:01:21 | |
|
2:01:24 | |
|
2:01:29 | |
| 4 | 2:01:39 | |
| 5 | 2:01:40 | |
| 6 | 2:01:59 | |
| 7 | 2:02:02 | |
| 8 | 2:02:32 | |
| 9 | 2:02:36 | |
| 10 | 2:02:43 |
Madrid
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
2:03:46 | |
|
2:03:49 | |
|
2:03:58 | |
| 4 | 2:04:00 | |
| 5 | 2:04:43 | |
| 6 | 2:04:57 | |
| 7 | 2:05:28 | |
| 8 | 2:05:33 | |
| 9 | 2:05:35 | |
| 10 | 2:05:58 |
Kitzbühel
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
2:05:52 | |
|
2:05:56 | |
|
2:06:27 | |
| 4 | 2:06:31 | |
| 5 | 2:06:41 | |
| 6 | 2:06:44 | |
| 7 | 2:07:00 | |
| 8 | 2:07:03 | |
| 9 | 2:07:10 | |
| 10 | 2:07:11 |
Hamburg
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:53:37 | |
|
1:53:44 | |
|
1:53:44 | |
| 4 | 1:53:59 | |
| 5 | 1:54:32 | |
| 6 | 1:54:33 | |
| 7 | 1:54:43 | |
| 8 | 1:54:49 | |
| 9 | 1:54:50 | |
| 10 | 1:54:52 |
London
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
2:00:34 | |
|
2:00:41 | |
|
2:00:49 | |
| 4 | 2:00:51 | |
| 5 | 2:00:52 | |
| 6 | 2:00:54 | |
| 7 | 2:00:58 | |
| 8 | 2:01:04 | |
| 9 | 2:01:07 | |
| 10 | 2:01:10 |
Lausanne
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
0:58:35 | |
|
0:58:35 | |
|
0:58:37 | |
| 4 | 0:58:40 | |
| 5 | 0:58:42 | |
| 6 | 0:59:02 | |
| 7 | 0:59:06 | |
| 8 | 0:59:07 | |
| 9 | 0:59:09 | |
| 10 | 0:59:09 |
Grand Final: Beijing
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
|
1:58:26 | |
|
1:58:40 | |
|
1:58:58 | |
| 4 | 1:59:00 | |
| 5 | 1:59:02 | |
| 6 | 1:59:04 | |
| 7 | 1:59:09 | |
| 8 | 2:00:11 | |
| 9 | 2:00:24 | |
| 10 | 2:00:37 |
Overall
| Rank | Athlete | Points |
|---|---|---|
|
4023 | |
|
3836 | |
|
2783 | |
| 4 | 2760 | |
| 5 | 2754 | |
| 6 | 2637 | |
| 7 | 2611 | |
| 8 | 2560 | |
| 9 | 2265 | |
| 10 | 1950 |