Sydney, Australia (April 10, 2012) - It's the third year in a row that Sydney opens the ITU World Triathlon Series (WTS), and the first year it's kicked off an Olympic year. In the two years since Sydney has been part of the WTS, it has hosted some incredible finishes including Javier Gomez's comeback from a bike crash last year to claim what he described as his toughest ever win.
This year, with no Brownlee brothers or Gomez, the men's podium is wide open, with contenders like Alexander Bruykhankov, David Hauss, Laurent Vidal, Brad Kahlefeldt, Brendan Sexton, William Clarke and Steffen Justus lining up to add their name to the winners list. In the women's race, New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt is still the one to beat and will wear No.1, but she will face a challenge from a host of Australian women aiming to finally win their home race and stake their claim for an Olympics spot. While Emma Moffatt has been pre-selected, there is Emma Jackson, Emma Snowsill and Erin Densham to keep an eye on. Reigning ITU World Champion Helen Jenkins will make her season debut, while also watch series winners Lisa Norden, Barbara Riveros Diaz and Nicola Spirig. Read the full preview here
About the race:
Sydney is the largest city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Sydney has played host to some important triathlon moments, but the biggest was the 2000 Olympic Games when triathlon made its debut. Canadian Simon Whitfield and Switzerland's Brigitte McMahon won the Gold medals. This year the course has changed slightly, the bike leg takes a turn past Sydney beautiful botanic gardens, and down to the picturesque Mrs Macquaries Chair look out.
Photo Credit: Delly Carr/ITU
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