Medal haul for Junior triathletes at European Cup

Irish athletes blitzed the field today at the Waterways Ireland triAthlone Junior European Cup claiming 3 podium positions.

Current Junior World Bronze medallist Con Doherty took top spot in the Elite Junior Men's race followed by Intervarsity National Champion Chris Mintern in 2nd. Emma Sharkey from Belfast was delighted to take bronze in the Elite Junior Women's race despite a fall from the bike.

Waterways triAthlone hosted a fantastic event which drew large crowds to watch the top junior triathletes in Europe race over a fast and furious 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Amongst the field which contained 9 different nationalists, Ireland was represented by 7 talented juniors. Emma Sharkey led the charge for the females while Con Doherty, Chris Mintern, Aaron O'Brien, Kieran Jackson, Aichlinn O'Reilly and Harry Speers were representing Ireland in the junior men's field.

After a tense build up with athletes being introduced to the crown the gun went off for the junior men at 1:30pm followed shortly after by the junior women.

Corkman Chris Mintern emerged from the River Shannon in the lead followed closely by Aaron O'Brien who also had a fantastic swim. A quick transition and they were onto the 20km bike with Mintern and O'Brien joined by fellow Irish teammates Con Doherty and Kieran Jackson in the lead pack.

The leading group contained some 10 athletes with all working well to push the pace and not give the chasing groups a chance of getting into the medal hunt.

In the junior women's race Danish athlete Ditte Kristensen put in a blistering swim to emerge in the lead. Emma Sharkey followed shortly after with pre race favourite Ivana Kuriackova of Slovakia on her heels.

Onto the bike and the Dane had a sizable advantage with Sharkey doing the lion's share of work on the bike to try and reel her in.

As the fast and furious racing continued the lead male pack, containing 4 Irish athletes managed to maintain their advantage and entered the 2nd transition together. Doherty and O'Brien were first to start the run with number 3 ranked Belgium athlete Erwin Vanderplancke in 3rd.

The 4 lap run course which contained some tough hills suited Westport's Con Doherty and he began to pull away much to the delight of the crowds lining the course. Doherty had time to grab a flag from the crowds and crossed the line well under an hour to claim Ireland's first Junior European Cup win.

"I don't know what it is but I just seem to perform well on these big occasions. There is such a good atmosphere in the Junior Squad these days and we just push each other on to new levels. It makes racing easier because I know that I train with guys of this level all the time." Commented Con Doherty after the race.

Mintern was also moving well and picked off athlete after athlete to run himself into the silver medal position. The UCC student cursed up the finish shoot to claim his first European Cup medal and secure a 1-2 for the Irish team.

"There was a wave of noise following me around the course so racing here in Athlone was amazing. The junior squad have come so far in the past few years. Two years ago we were nearly last in the European Team Relays so we looked at ourselves and realised the work we needed to put in. Now we're seeing the rewards with results like today." Commented Chris Mintern.

The race for 3rd was a close affair with a photo finish determining that Frenchman Emile Blondel had piped Morten Hansen of Denmark by the narrowest of margins.

Meanwhile in the junior women's race Ditte Kristensen had entered T2 with a sizable lead and had begun her run when Sharkey and Kuriackova finished the bike. Sharkey maculated and approached the dismount line too quickly. She took a tumble and suffered a nasty gash to her leg. Determined to press on she gathered her composure and set out for the 5km run.

Kuriackova was running well and closed in on the leader however Denmark's Ditte Kristensen had enough in reserve and went on to take gold. Ivana Kuriackova claimed silver with Emma Sharkey claiming her first European Cup podium in 3rd.

"I made a silly mistake coming into T2 and fell but I'm so happy to get a bronze medal. I loved racing in front of home crowds, the support was amazing." Emma Sharkey told us after the race.

Along with the podium finishes there were also great performances from Aaron O'Brien, Kieran Jackson, Aichlinn O'Reilly and Harry Speers. Many racing today were in their first European Cup race with the aim of gaining experience of racing at the top level.