SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- London 2012 Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain closed with a remarkable 10-kilometer run split to cruise to the elite men's victory at Saturday's Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego at Mission Beach.
After exiting the water second - behind American Tommy Zaferes (Santa Cruz, Calif.) - and pushing the pace for much of the bike, Brownlee took charge of the race on the first lap of the run. The two-time ITU world champion secured the win thanks to a 29 minute, 30 second run split to finish with at time of 1:47:16 on the 1,500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run course.
"I didn't really know what to expect. It was kind of weird; I was
standing on the start line thinking it's just good to be back, you know,
the nerves of just standing on the start line, that's what I do. That
felt pretty good." said Brownless after the race.
Matt Chrabot (Virginia Beach, Va.) finished as the top American and 14th overall to claim his second career USA Triathlon Elite National Championships title - and first since 2009 - with a 14th-place finish in 1:49:23.
"The main thing I wanted to focus on was keeping my nose clean. I'm in good shape but I'm not in great shape, so I couldn't be the animal that I normally am on the bike," said Chrabot.
"Halfway through the run I really noticed the spectators were chanting USA, USA, so I just kind of used that to fuel me through the rest of the race to the finish line. It's my second national title and it feels good," Chrabot added.
Omegawave World Triathlon San Diego
(1,500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run)
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR), 1:47:16
2. Richard Murray (RSA), 1:47:38
3. Joao Silva (POR), 1:47:52
4. Steffen Justus (GER), 1:48:14
5. Mario Mola (ESP), 1:48:18
6. Adam Bowden (GBR), 1:48:22
7. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS), 1:48:28
8. Javier Gomez (ESP), 1:48:38
9. Sven Riederer (SUI), 1:48:47
10. David Mcnamee (GBR), 1:48:54