"It feels pretty awesome. It was a long time coming but it feels good to be here finally," said Bennett, who can now relax a bit as the next two Olympic spots are fought for at races next April and June. "This allows me to prepare properly next year and not have too many highs before the main event. So it's perfect. My race was pretty solid. I was a little crampy in the run, but had just enough to get where I needed to be."
She needed a strong sprint to outrun Kiwi Debbie Tanner down the stretch to earn her 11th World Cup podium behind eventual race winner Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) and runner-up Emma Snowsill (Australia). The podium matched the results of the ITU World Championship just two weeks ago in Hamburg, Germany.
But more importantly this day was the battle Bennett had to wage against a strong group of five other U.S. women looking for that first Olympic spot. And it was a duel early on. The American contingent of Sara McLarty (DeLand, Fla. / Colorado Springs, Colo.), Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo. / Colorado Springs, Colo.), Bennett, Sarah Groff (Cooperstown, N.Y. / Boulder, Colo.), and Julie Swail Ertel (Irvine, Calif.) led the 71 competitors out of the water. They were joined by a strong group of international athletes, including Snowsill, Fernandes, and Joelle Franzmann (Germany). The sixth American, Becky Lavelle (Minnetonka, Minn. / Los Gatos, Calif.) came out about 30 seconds back.
After the first bike lap, the lead group of nine women included four of the Americans, as McLarty fell off the pace and joined a large chase group with Lavelle about 50 seconds back. The lead group became 30 by the end of the third lap when the large chase group made a surge to catch the leaders.
This group entered T2 together, with Bennett exiting transition in second, hot on the heels of world champion Fernandes. The 22-year-old Fernandes soon gained control and was up by 15 seconds heading onto lap two of the run. But Bennett's obvious concern was not Fernandes, but her teammate Haskins who was 23 seconds behind and Ertel another 17 seconds back after the first lap of the run.
Snowsill moved past Bennett and into second early on the second lap, but Bennett's gap to Haskins grew to 33 seconds midway through the run and 46 seconds to start the final lap, with Ertel another 30 seconds back. Tanner made a move to within a few seconds of Bennett to start the last lap and moved into third with just under 1000 meters to go, but Bennett, knowing her Olympic spot was wrapped up, used a strong kick to regain her position on the podium.
Haskins and Ertel produced strong performances, finishing in 11th and 13th places, respectively, while Lavelle grabbed 28th and Groff finished 55th. McLarty pulled out of the race before the completion of the fourth bike lap.
Haskins was pleased with her race, but now turns her focus to claiming one of the final team spots next year. "It was a little different strategy from how I normally race. The bike, I worked the hills really hard and sat up on the rest of it. And gave it everything I had on the run," said Haskins. "It was a great experience. This was a tougher field than the world championship; a lot of great competitors out there. Laura has had an awesome year. This is her third go-round for the trials. She deserves it, and I hope to be with her next year."
2007 Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup - Final Women's Results:
- Vanessa Fernandes (POR) 2:00:36
- Emma Snowsill (AUS) 2:01:51
- Laura Bennett (USA) 2:02:06
- Debbie Tanner (NZL) 2:02:10
- Anja Dittmer (GER) 2:02:43
- Samantha Warriner (NZL) 2:02:44
- Nicole Spirig (SUI) 2:02:45
- Emma Moffatt (AUS) 2:02:54
- Elizabeth May (LUX) 2:03:09
- Felicity Abram (AUS) 2:03:16
-
Other Americans
11th - Sarah Haskins 2:03:25
13th - Julie Swail Ertel 2:03:42
28th - Becky Lavelle 2:06:06
55th - Sarah Groff 2:09:31
DNF - Sara McLarty
About USA Triathlon: USA Triathlon is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USAT sanctions 2,000 races and connects with more than 100,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. For more information, please go to USATriathlon.org.
