TRIATHLON Ireland's Emma Davis finishes 15th in opening Triathlon World Cup
Ireland’s Emma Davis finished an impressive fifteenth in the Elite Women’s race at the opening Triathlon World Cup of 2008 in Mooloolaba, Australia last weekend. Davis continued her recent run of great form, which got her onto the podium in the Gold Coast Triathlon a month ago. The race was won by multiple World Champion Australia’s Emma Snowsill closely followed home by last years World Cup leader, and favourite, Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal.
The women's field was packed with the elite of the sport with last year’s regular rival pairing of Snowsill and Fernandes being joined by the top Kiwis and Australians. Beijing qualification spots, ranking points toward qualification and sizing up the potential Olympic competition were ingredients for a tough race.
Davis came out of the swim with the lead pack. With nobody wanting to declare their hand and break-away on the bike the winner was going to be decided on the run. In very hot unforgiving conditions Davis fought hard for her fifteenth place, beating several Olympic top-ten contenders in the process. Snowsill and Fernandes ran side-by-side for the first half of the 10km run leg, with Snowsill pushing the pace and gaining a lead on the hill of the third lap, which she held onto to take the win with twenty seconds to spare.
Davis, who is supported by the Irish Sports Council, has had a fantastic start to her season surpassing her targets in each race. If her performances continue in the same vein as her last couple of races Emma could well secure her dream of Olympic qualification for this year’s Games in Beijing. Qualification is achieved through the accumulation of world ranking points and based on her current World ranking Davis is on track to qualify.
Emma's family originates from Bangor, Co Down, but she currently trains in Surrey England. Ireland has not had any Olympic Representation in Triathlon, but both Emma Davis and Gavin Noble are on the cusp of 2008 Olympic qualification.
Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in Ireland, and had over 8,000 people competing in Ireland in 2007.
Ends.
Issued on behalf of Triathlon Ireland by the Irish Sports Council
For more information:
Please visit www.triathlonireland.com ; administrator@triathlonireland.com or call Triathlon Ireland on 01-2017758
Please note:
Pictures of Emma in action in Australia are available from Triathlon Ireland or the Irish Sports Council smcelroy@irishsportscouncil.ie
Additional Information:
2008 Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup Elite Women Results
Gold - EMMA SNOWSILL Australia
Silver 2:00:44 - VANESSA FERNANDES Portugal
Bronze 2:01:22 - LISA NORDEN Sweden
2:02:07 4 - LAURA BENNETT United States
2:02:37 5 - ANDREA WHITCOMBE Great Britain
2:02:45 6 - OLGA ZAUSAYLOVA Russian Federation
2:02:50 7 - ALEE SHARP Australia
2:02:52 8 - JURI IDE Japan
2:03:12 9 - EMMA MOFFATT Australia
2:03:16 10 - ANJA DITTMER Germany
2:03:51 11 – Ryf Daniela (SUI)
2:04:05 12 – Felicity Abram (AUS)
2:04:07 13 – Helen Tucker (GBR)
2:04:19 14 – Andrew Hewitt (NZ)
2:04:27 15 – Emma Davis (IRL)
Upcoming Events for Emma Davis
6 April New Plymouth BG World Cup (New Zealand)
14 April Ishigaki BG World Cup (Japan)
26 April Tongyeong BG World Cup (South Korea)
4 May Richards Bay BG World Cup (South Africa)
Upcoming Events for Gavin Noble
April 13 ITU Triathlon European Cup (Chania, Greece)
April 19 ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup (Pontevedra, Spain)
May 10 ETU European Championships (Lisbon, Portugal)
May 18 ITU Triathlon European Cup (Brno, Czech Republic)
May 25 BG Triathlon World Cup (Madrid, Spain)
For more info on any of these events www.triathlon.org