13 July 2003: Edmonton Canada, For Immediate Release:  

Barb Lindquist (USA) has won the women’s event, with Sheila Taormina (USA)   second and Laura Reback (USA) third – a complete American sweep. In the   men’s event Simon Whitfield outran Hunter Kemper of the USA and Greg Bennett   of Australia. This event was a highly technical and emotional success.

There were perfect race conditions for the start of the Edmonton ITU World   Cup – with both air and water temperature over 20oC.

As predicted, American teammates Barb Lindquist and Sheila Taormina joined   forces to lead the swim from the start. Laura Reback (USA) exited the water   just a short distance behind. The chase group from the swim and onto the 6 lap   cycle course included Jill Savege (CAN) followed by Susie Gallucci (USA), Joanna   Zeiger(USA), Sylvia Gemignani (ITA), Becky Gibbs Lavelle(USA), Nina Anisimova(RUS)   and Brazilian teammates Sandra Soldan and Mariana Ohata.

After the first lap on the bike, Laura Reback was dropped by Lindquist and   Taormina and swallowed by the chase group. By the end of the first lap, Lindquist   and Taormina had built up a 45 second lead on the chase group. Kathleen Smet   of Belgium was in the lead of the second chase pack which also included Carla   Morena Simone Burli (SUI).

Lindquist and Taormina continued to build their lead through lap 4 and by start   of the 5th lap they had a lead of 1:47. Laura Reback continued to lead the chase   pack which was reduced to 9 after Canadian Jill Savege suffered a flat tire.   The second chase pack, down over two minutes, was led by Olympic Champion Brigitte   McMahon. Lindquist and Taormina entered the second transition with a lead of   over two minutes as they headed out onto the 3 lap 10km run.

Barb Lindquist began to pull away from Taormina throughout the run and ran   to the top of the podium in a time of 1:57:30. Taormina finished almost a minute   behind while Laura Reback remained in third position, 8 seconds ahead of Mariana   Ohata of Brazil. Becky Gibbs Lavelle and Joanna Zeiger were fifth and sixth   respectively. The strength of the American women was clearly demonstrated with   5 of the top 6 women hailing from the USA.

Following the race Barb Lindquist indicated; “it was a great field and   for Sheila and I to get away was great, the people second pack were not slack   bikers and runners.”

The spectators by the start of the men’s race were estimated as 30,000   in number. The mens swim saw a large group of more than 30 remaining in a pack   throughout the 2 lap 1500m swim. Paula Miyashiro of Brazil led through the first   lap before allowing Marko Albert of Estonia take over. Albert was the first   athlete onto the 6 lap 40km bike course, with Joe Umphenour of the USA close   behind. Miyashiro was third out of the water followed closely by Andy Potts   (USA) and Simon Lessing (GBR).

A large group of men remained intact through the third lap of the bike when   Matt Reed and Shane Armstrong broke away from the main group. Richard Allen   of Great Britain lead the large group trying to bridge to the breakaway, followed   by Andy Potts and Simon Lessing. This large group also included Greg Bennett   and Simon Whitfield.

By the bell lap of the bike, the big group at the front seemed to be slowing   down in anticipation of the run. Gilberto Gonzalez of Venezuela rode well at   the front with the pack of 30 on his tail. Onto the last lap the spectators   were startled by the pop of a bike tire as Emilio D’Aquino of Italy was   forced to withdraw from the race. Emilio was riding a borrowed bike after the   airlines lost the bikes of the entire Italian team. A local Edmonton bike shop   replaced the bikes the day before the event.

Axel Zeebroek broke away from the large pack on the last lap and with a very   fast transition led onto the run. Simon Whitfield and Greg Bennett also pulled   out of transition quickly out onto the first lap of the run.

A pack of 6 men ran close together throughout the run including; Hunter Kemper   (USA), Greg Bennett (AUS), Simon Lessing (GBR), Martin Krnavek (CZE) and Simon   Whitfield.

In the end Simon Whitfield was buoyed by the enthusiastic crowd to the top   spot on the podium and said following the race, “I didn’t have a great   swim but biked well and thanks to the crowd felt as though I was floating on   the run.” This was Simon’s second World Cup win in a row on the course.

Hunter Kemper ran to a fantastic second place finish, Greg Bennett was third.   Martin Krnavek and Bevon Docherty rounded out the top five.

For complete results and event coverage visit www.triathlon.org.