AUSTRALIA, Mooloolaba – Forty-four women and forty-seven men are ready to brave the high surf this Sunday in the ITU Mooloolaba World Cup triathlon. The third installment of the 2006 ITU World Cup series is set to be held in the pleasant resort town of Mooloolaba, on the Australian Sunshine Coast.
In the Women’s event, Laura Bennett (USA) is wearing number one as she looks for her third podium finish in as many races. Bennett will have stiff competition as Annabel Luxford (AUS) will be gunning for her second 2006 World Cup gold since the withdrawal of her teammate and pre race favourite Emma Snowsill (AUS). After winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last weekend, Snowsill has been running the media gauntlet during the week and stated she is in no condition to race this weekend.
Another to watch for is Sam Warriner (NZL), who is hot off her silver medal finish in Melbourne and ready to race for gold this weekend. A large Kiwi team is in town that includes current World Junior Champion and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Andrea Hewitt.
On the men’s side, Hunter Kemper (USA) is back to try and keep his World Cup crown with his first major race of 2006. He will have his work cut out for him with a few fresh faces that top the start list. David Dellow (AUS), who will wear number one, is still searching for his first podium finish after two fourth places in the Middle East. Mark Fretta (USA) is also there looking to continue his great season.
If there is one large pack off the bike it will be a very entertaining 10km run as run specialists Ivan Rana (ESP), Tim Don (GBR) and Peter Robertson (AUS) will be on the start line looking for their first podiums of the season.
Other athletes to look out for are Jarrod Shoemaker (USA), who is the reining World U23 Champion, and Bevan Docherty (NZL), who is fresh off a silver medal performance at the Commonwealth Games and is thirsty for the win.
Cyclone Wati is the story as the weather system continues to send high winds and rain down the Eastern shoreline into Mooloolaba. Three metre surf threatens to cause the swim course to be moved inland to calmer waters. Officials will make the call Saturday morning. Stay tuned to triathlon.org for full updates.
Full start lists are available at www.triathlon.org.
The women start at 11:00am local time (GMT+10) while the men’s race is scheduled for 1:30pm.
Live coverage of the 2006 ITU Mooloolaba World cup will begin at 10:30 local time (GMT+10) on Sunday. Coverage of the third world cup of the season will include live coverage, audio commentary, live images and timing. Simply visit www.triathlon.org and launch the live coverage