Suunto Ambassador Helen Jenkins won her first race of the season at the London leg of the ITU World Championship Series on August 6, picking up valuable WCS points and booking her place in the British team for the London Olympics in 2012.
Jenkins was delighted with her victory, overcoming a small cold to finish seven seconds ahead of American Gwen Jorgenson and Anja Dittmer (GER). After the 1.5km swim, a pack of 34 riders formed on the 42km bike leg. Going into the 10km run, Jenkins went to the front early, setting the pace and eventually pulling away to cross the line in 2hrs 34sec.
“Oh, it hurt so much, normally when you win you are like ‘oh yeah, its easy’, but that hurt,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t feel great in the swim, and the bike was pretty easy but my legs didn’t feel great.”
The race was held on the same course as the Olympic event and for many athletes competing over the weekend, securing their place in their national teams was a priority. As well as Jenkins, current Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno (GER) confirmed his spot with an eleventh place in the men’s event. Reigning world champion Javier Gomez was fourth, retaining his WCS lead and guaranteeing an Olympic start.
The men’s race was won by home favourite Alistair Brownlee (GBR) who broke away with three others on the bike leg, going into the second transition with a minute’s lead. Gomez chased hard behind but Brownlee’s 29min 50sec run was too fast for the Spaniard.
Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) was second and Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) third.
“It was great, I couldn’t have asked for more,” Alistair Brownlee said. “I think (the break) stayed at 10 or 15 seconds for a couple of laps and then it just went 30, 45, 60, I couldn’t quite believe it to be honest. I knew that we were in danger of being attacked on the bike and I think to be honest me being away served its purpose better than anything.”
“It was a tough day because of the rain,” Gomez said. “I could avoid the crashes on the bike, when Alexander, and Alistair and Ivan (Rana) made the breakaway I was a bit far behind, it was my fault, and they did a great job, they well deserved this podium and I was fighting with Jonny for two and a half laps but he was a little bit faster than me today, so fourth place is not too bad, it’s good to race on the Olympic course and it’s good to be number one.”
The next WCS race is in Lausanne, Switzerland on August 20-21.