Wow - I've just spent an amazing day downtown watching the elite women race in the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final! New Zealand had four athletes out of a field of 42 in the final (Andrea Hewitt, Kate McIlroy, Debbie Tanner and Nicki Samuels), and Andrea placed seventh today, but third in the series overall.
Warning: I have a lot of photos...
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| Towards the end of the first lap of the 1.5km swim |
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| The end of the first lap, and start of the second |
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| See that wash in the left third - that's the group nearing the first yellow bouy |
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| Andrea Hewitt (#3) exiting the swim, and right up there |
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| Transition 1 |
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| Harrison (Fr) was first out of the transition (I think!) |
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Murua (ESP)
Debbie Tanner came off her bike at this point and it looked rather ouch-y
I didn't have the poor grace to take a photo of her on the ground!
Thankfully she managed to stay in the first bunch of riders |
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| Kate McIlroy on the bike |
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The leading bunch coming into Britomart at the end of the first lap.
I think Kate's in front, and all four NZL'ers were in the leading bunch! |
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| The leading bunch racing up Queen Street |
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| Kate gained a lead around the 4th lap (of 8 laps on the bike) |
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| You can see the extent of her lead here |
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| So many famous names - it started to hit me how lucky we were to see these amazing athletes in action |
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| By the next lap the others had gained on Kate |
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| Debbie Tanner (NZL) |
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| Finally the run started |
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| My fave shot of the day |
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Gwen Jorgenson (USA) came from way behind to join the leading bunch and was second today
- a gutsy run |
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| That's Anne Haug (GER) sitting there in the middle of the bunch - the eventual winner today |
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| You can never have too many running photos... |
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| Lisa Norden (SWE) won the series overall - remember her amazing photo-finish at the Olympics? |
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My final photo of the day a couple of blocks from the finish
Haug (GER) had made her break and was several seconds ahead at this stage, and Jorgenson (USA) Riveros Dias (Chile) and Norden (SWE) and Stimpson (GBR) placed in this order
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Andrea and Kate got 7th and 8th respectively, and Debbie and Nicky were 28th and 29th - well done ladies, you made us proud! Such a great day, and amazing to see these world-class athletes up close. Just awesome.
PS: final results
here
Wow, Sherry! These photos are amazing and I loved your play-by-play! It must have been amazing to watch these incredible athletes and see them up close.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling I would be registering for a triathlon the second I came home from watching this!
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