ITU World Cup Beijing (Olympic Test Event)

I probably could have started this race report before the race as the result was inevitable for me. An X-ray and CT scan upon returning from the World Championships confirmed an unfortunate fracture in my little toe joint from the crash I sustained in Hamburg. The insignificant little crash in transition from swim to bike that caused me to pull out on the run leg will mean I’m not able to run for about 4 weeks. The good news is that the joint isn’t displaced and should heal quickly and smoothly. Also, I can swim and ride with minimal discomfort and threat of delaying the recovery process.

With the ability to do two out of three legs it was decided that I should still travel to Beijing on a reconnaissance mission. There is no better way to get a feel for the course and the way the race is likely to pan out in 2008 other than by seeing it from the inside. It’s never easy starting a race knowing you are not going to finish, but my job there was very clear and I was determined to do it as professionally as possible.

The course and protocols expected in 2008 were applied and perhaps the only thing missing was the oppressive heat and humidity. The constant, thick smog cloud was still clinging to the course as it does to the entire city, but generally the conditions were ideal for the men’s race on Sunday morning. Many countries were using the event as a selection race for their individual teams and this would impact fairly dramatically on the way the race was played out.

85 men leapt from the pontoon into the Chang Ping reservoir (1-3hrs from the city centre depending on traffic) with a very smooth 565m straight line to the first buoy. The 1-lap course certainly makes it a much fairer and slightly less brutal swim than a 2-lap course and the field was fairly evenly matched throughout the 1500m. Through transition a large group of 25 formed a small break onto the first of 6 laps.

The bike leg is very exciting as it immediately takes you along the dam wall in front of thousands of spectators in the natural amphitheatre and down the spill-way onto the main loop. After a fast and sharp left-hand bend the course then makes a significant climb before a sharp decent, followed by a gradual decline that the charged along at over 60km/h each time through. It took a little over a lap for the chase pack I was in to reel in the early leaders, but the pace remained high for the rest of the ride. Unusually, athletes from different countries were more intent on marking their countrymen than they were about specifically winning the race. Any break-away attempts were fairly quickly shut down and everyone seemed content to try and run for their place on their respective Olympic Teams. As such it was a massive bunch that charged off the bike into T2 and out onto the 1st of the 4 lap 10km run. This was the end of my race for the day, I pulled to the side as we came to the end of the bike leg and handed in my chip to the officials and found a vantage point in the stands to watch the run played out by the rest of the competitors.

Current World Number 1 Javier Gomez from Spain took revenge on his 2nd place at World’s and showed why he had the Number 1 on his arms for the day. He tore to an early lead and never looked back. The lead swelled to about 40secs over the chasing pack before he backed off on the final lap to cruise to an impressive victory. All the action was going on behind him as athletes fought for every position to try and satisfy their different selection criteria. Australia’s Courtney Atkinson managed to hold off the 2 Kiwi’s Beven Docherty and Kris Gemmel for 2nd place and Simon Whitfield from Canada rolled in 5th place. The rest of the field filed in close behind as they sprinted for every single position.

I’m on my way back to Australia now with 4 weeks until my next set of races. While my toe tries to heal back together I’ll be in for a few big weeks of swimming and biking to prepare for 3 non-drafting races in Dallas, Bermuda and Noosa as well as the XTerra World Championships in Maui.

Simon Thomo

Simon Thompson
Australian Professional Triathlete
http://www.simonthompson.com.au

PO Box 547
Dickson ACT 2602
Australia
simon.thomo@bigpond.com
+61 (0)408862366 m

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