Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia nipped number-one ranked Javier Gomez of Spain in a dramatic sprint finish. Kahlefeldt’s time of 1 hour 49 minutes and 23 seconds elated the large crowds gathered to cheer on their local athletes. Gomez, who led most of the run, was a mere 3 seconds back with Kris Gemmell of New Zealand claiming the final podium spot a further 10 seconds down.
“To be able to win a world cup in your home country is fantastic. I think it’s one of the best ever wins for me,” said the 5-time world cup winner Kahlefeldt. “It doesn’t get much harder then the Mooloolaba course. It was important to show the Aussie [Olympic] selectors that I can perform on a hard course and I can beat the best in the world.”
A large group of men were able to maneuver through the rough surf of the 1,500 meter swim to exit in just over 18 minutes. The strong swim-surf Aussies Craig Walton, Courtney Atkinson and Simon Thompson led the charge with American Andy Potts, Gomez and the Kiwi duo of Gemmell and Bevan Docherty in the mix.
Kahlefeldt exited the water 20 seconds back of the leaders and spent most of the 40 kilometer bike ride, which contained a total of 16 hills, in the chase group. It was not until the final stages of the bike that his group was able to close the gap, with a finishing bike split of just under 58 minutes, and exit the second transition with the leaders.
Quickly to the front of the run went Kahlefeldt, Gomez, Gemmell, Atkinson and Docherty. Gomez was the one to make the first move at the half-way point of the 10 kilometer run, pulling away from the group. It was Kahlefeldt, however, who was able to reel in the young Spaniard over the last of four laps, leaving it to a final sprint.
“I thought that I had it at the halfway point,” said Gomez, who celebrated his 24th birthday today. “But I didn’t feel good on the last lap of the run. I had a pain in my back and I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to.”
With only 50 meters to go Kahlefeldt was finally able to pull away to the cheers of thousands of fellow Aussies. Kahlefeldt’s run spilt of 32:02 was the fastest on the day. “The Aussie crowd was behind me the whole way, banging the barriers, and it made for a great sprint finish, said Kahlefeldt. “Javier’s run was very good today. He is such a strong athlete.”
Gemmell was able to pull away from team mate Docherty to take the bronze medal. “Honestly, I didn’t expect this at all,” commented Gemmell, who doubles as the ITU athletes representative. “I didn’t even taper for this race. Bodes well for the rest of my season.”
After opening with a strong swim and bike, Andy Potts was forced to pull out of the race. Fellow American Brian Fleischmann had a strong day with a 29th place finish, just eight seconds back of Reed (1:53:26). Doug Friman finished in 48th, while Jarrod Shoemaker turned in a 52nd place performance. Joe Umphenour did not finish.
The 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series will next visit the fishing island of Ishigaki, Japan in three weeks time with more Olympic qualifying points on the line.
ITU BG Mooloolaba World Cup Top 10 - Men
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1 Kahlefeldt, Brad AUS 01:49:22
2 Gomez, Javier ESP 01:49:26
3 Gemmell, Kris NZL 01:49:36
4 Docherty, Bevan NZL 01:50:09
5 Atkinson, Courtney AUS 01:50:15
6 Thompson, Simon AUS 01:50:25
7 Tichelaar, Paul CAN 01:50:49
8 Reed, Shane NZL 01:50:53
9 Sexton, Brendan AUS 01:50:57
10 D'Aquino, Emilio ITA 01:51:06
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27 Reed, Matthew 01:53:26
29 Fleischmann, Brian 01:53:34
48 Friman, Doug 01:55:14
52 Shoemaker, Jarrod 01:55:46
DNF Potts, Andy
DNF Umphenour, Joe
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