It was a tough day for British athletes at the World Triathlon Yokohama in Japan. There were five top ten finishes, but frustration at not being able to achieve medal winning success in this third round of the ITU World Triathlon Series.
Gwen Jorgensen (USA) and Javier Gomez (ESP) took the top spots as Jodie Stimpson suffered an injury and the Brownlee brothers appeared to struggle with the pace of the run.
Stimpson won the previous two rounds in Auckland and Cape Town and hoped to extend her lead at the top of the world rankings. Finishing ninth she retains the top spot but cut her foot during the second transition and required five stitches afterwards.
Stimpson was unable to establish a strong working group on the bike as she has done in previous rounds. The injury to the foot prevented her from running hard, but she finished ninth before being taken to hospital.
In the men’s race the top swimmers were also unable to break away on the bike and New Zealand’s Tom Davidson pulled a large group, including Mario Mola (ESP), Richard Murray (RSA) and Britain’s Aaron Harris up to the front of the field.
Alistair Brownlee was fastest out of the second transition along with the sport’s top runners; Jonathan Brownlee, Gomez, Mola and Murray. However, both Alistair and Jonathan looked tired and lacked the pace of the others, having to eventually settle for fourth and fifth place.
Alistair Brownlee said: “It’s the first race back. I’ve done a lot of training and didn’t feel like I had my race legs on. The harder I worked the worse it got.”
Aaron Harris may have sealed his Team England selection for the Commonwealth Games with his second top ten finish of the season. He finished sixth. Selection takes place after the next round in London.
Adam Bowden finished 9th, the fourth time he’s finished in the top ten in Yokohama. Grant Sheldon, just 19, had another strong performance to finish 13th despite a 15 second penalty.
British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell commented: “Jodie felt she needed another Brit like Helen Jenkins in there. It’s a credit that she was able to finish given the injury. There are things she can learn but most of all she’s frustrated with it.”
Commenting on the form of the Brownlee brothers he said: “It’s one race. You would back them when they’re at their peak. There’s a bit of work to do, but it’s not a bad thing.”
He added: “It’s better that we have the opportunity to review things now than regret not having done it after Edmonton or Rio. That’s the first time Jonny’s not been on the podium since 2010. It’s one race, but we can go back and re-evaluate, that’s what sport’s all about.”
London will host the next round of the Series in Hyde Park on 31 May. The elite men’s and women’s races will take place over the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run). The PruHealth World Triathlon London events are back-to-back and free to watch starting at 2.30pm. For more information see http://worldtrilondon.com.
ITU World Triathlon Yokohama (1500m swim, 20km bike, 10km run)
Results: Elite women
1. Gwen Jorgensen, USA, 1:58:38
2. Ai Ueda, JPN, 1:59:14
3. Agnieszka Jerzyk, POL, 1:59:24
9. Jodie Stimpson, GBR, 2:00:15
32. Lucy Hall, GBR, 2:02:39
41. Natalie Milne, GBR, 2:05:48
45. Katie Hewison, GBR, 2:07:57
DNF Lois Rosindale, GBR
Results: Elite men
1. Javier Gomez, ESP, 1:45:31
2. Mario Mola, ESP, 1:45:31
3. Richard Murray, RSA, 1:46:00
4. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 1:46:27
5. Jonathan Brownlee, GBR, 1:46:29
6. Aaron Harris, GBR, 1:46:38
9. Adam Bowden, GBR, 1:47:16
13. Grant Sheldon, GBR, 1:47:35
45. Marc Austin, GBR, 1:52:57
2014 World Triathlon Series
April 5-6 Barfoot & Thompson World Triathlon Auckland
April 26-27 ITU World Triathlon Cape Town
May 17-18 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama
May 31 - June 1 PruHealth World Triathlon London
June 27-29 ITU World Triathlon Chicago
July 12-13 ITU World Triathlon Hamburg
August 23-24 Vattenfall World Triathlon Stockholm
August 26 - Sept 1 TransCanada Corp. World Triathlon Edmonton
