In Kitzbuehel this year, Paula Findlay cruised to her third Dextro Energy Triathlon Series win from three races, and Alistair Brownlee led from start to finish and that complete performance was enough to move him to the top of the series rankings. But in the ITU Photo of the Year it was the Austrian town that was the real winner, making an appearance in almost all of the Week Three Photo of the Year finalist images.
But from early on in the voting, it seemed like it would be a close battle between the action packed start photo and the prerace shot of Australia’s Chris McCormack, who made his ITU comeback in Kitzbuehel 14 years after winning an ITU world title.
“My wife is calling this my mid-life crisis,” Macca said before the race. “I’m not buying a fast car, I’m returning to the fastest most competitive brand of triathlon in the world.”
In the end though, the No.1 picture edged out Macca’s No.6 by 36.75 per cent to 21.79. A reason why it resonated was nicely captured by ITU Secretary General Loreen Barnett, who commented that “I just love #1 - says “triathlon” so loudly and I love the way the athletes have been momentarily frozen against that wonderful sky.”
So with the fans choice decided, we hear from the man behind the lens. Over the past 20 years, Delly Carr’s stunning imagery has made him one of the best in the business. With numerous national and international accolades, Delly’s work continues to develop and reach new levels. His choice is that snap of Macca, because of what it says about the 1997 ITU World Champion and his comeback:
“Chris McCormack made a highly publicised and talked about comeback into the sport. It’s no secret that Chris has always been brash about his ambitions and success in the sport. So it was a wonderful fun statement by Chris to let the world know, ‘What the hell have I got myself into?’ He is only human.” - Delly Carr
Camera: Nikon D3S
Exposure: 1/1600 sec, F2.8
Did you agree? Let us know your thoughts below. Check back on triathlon.org next week when we unveil the finalists for the Hamburg WCS and you can have your say again.