Lausanne, Switzerland (20 August 2011) - Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) claimed the 2011 ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championship title at the Lausanne round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series round.
Chile's Barbara Riveros Diaz claimed her maiden ITU World Championship and second career series win with a thrilling come-from-behind sprint finish in Lausanne.
Riveros Diaz had dropped to fourth coming into the final kilometre, as Australian Emma Jackson looked like she had the race wrapped up ahead of New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt and Great Britain's Helen Jenkins. But Riveros Diaz cranked up the pace with about 500 metres to go, passed Jenkins and Hewitt and then took aim at Jackson. Last year's Under23 world champion tried to stick with the pint-sized Chilean star, but couldn't keep up as she crossed the line in a time 58 minutes, 35 seconds.
Jenkins dominated the early part of the race until fading in the late stages. Another British athlete, Lucy Hall, was first out of the swim and Jenkins was only a few seconds behind, and they had an almost 30-second lead on the main pack heading out of transition. Even after Hall dropped off, Jenkins still raced about half the 20km bike solo, before finally being caught by a pack that included Riveros Diaz, Hewitt and Jackson, as well as Nicola Spirig, Emma Moffatt, Gwen Jorgensen, Emmie Charayron, Lisa Norden and Sarah Groff.
From the start of the run, Jenkins kept pushing the pace and together with Hewitt, Jackson, Riveros Diaz and Ashleigh Gentle broke to form a leader's pack of five. That group then led unchanged for most of the run, before the final kilometre when Gentle dropped off and it came down to the tussle between Riveros Diaz and Jackson. It was Riveros Diaz's second Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series victory, after she won the season opener in Sydney in 2010, also in a sprint finish. Australia ended up with three women inside the top 10, with Gentle in fifth and Felicity Abram in 10th, while the USA had two, with Gwen Jorgensen sixth and Sarah Groff seventh. It was Jorgensen's third elite race in three weeks, after she won silver in London and then gold at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup last weekend.
Overall Jenkins leads the overall Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series rankings by 201 points, with 2913, with Riveros Diaz second with 2712. Paula Findlay, who did not race in Lausanne, is in third with 2637 points. The Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final Beijing is on September 10 and 11.
Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Lausanne - August 20, 2011
Final Results - Elite Women - 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Gold - Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) - 58:35
Silver - Emma Jackson (AUS) - 58:35
Bronze - Andrea Hewitt (NZL) - 58:37
4th - Helen Jenkins (GBR) - 58:40
5th - Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) - 58:42
6th - Gwen Jorgensen (USA) - 59:02
7th - Sarah Groff (USA) - 59:06
8th - Lisa Norden (SWE) - 59:07
9th - Emmie Chayaron (FRA) - 59:09
10th - Felicity Abram (AUS) - 59:09
Photo Credit: ITU
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