COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Jan. 25, 2002) - Triathlon world champions Siri Lindley and Tim DeBoom have been named USA Triathlon's Elite Triathletes of the Year for 2001. U.S. national duathlon champions Greg Watson and Andrea Ratkovic were named Elite Duathletes of the Year for 2001.

Lindley (Boulder, Colo.) led the women elite triathletes by winning the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Triathlon Championships in July in Edmonton, Canada at the Olympic distance (1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run), and winning five ITU World Cup races. She also won the ITU
World Aquathlon Championship (2K swim, 750-meter run, 2K swim). She finished the season ranked No. 1 in the world by the ITU.

"Who would ever believe that I could have achieved what I did in 2001?" Lindley said. "I achieved some of my biggest dreams. I feel so thankful that I was able to find the right ingredients in my training and preparation to be able to put it all together successfully on race day."

DeBoom (Lyons, Colo.) made his mark by winning the Ironman World Championship in October in Kailua/Kona, Hawaii. DeBoom finished the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in 8 hours, 31 minutes, 18 seconds. He also won the Isuzu Ironman California (Camp Pendleton)
race in May and finished second at the Boulder Peak Triathlon, which was Olympic distance.

"Siri and Tim are fantastic role models for multi-sport athletes," said USA Triathlon Executive Director Steve Locke. "Both have worked very hard to achieve success and deserve the athlete of the year title." The awards are voted on by USA Triathlon's Athletes Advisory Council. Siri and Tim were also nominated to be the U.S. Olympic Committee's male and female athlete of the year.

In duathlon, Watson (Newark, Del.) continued to be one of the most consistent multi-sport athletes in the United States, while Ratkovic (Norman, Okla.) is so new to elite duathlon that she was also named duathlon's elite newcomer of the year.

Watson took his second straight U.S. elite national championship title in July when he won at the Dannon Duathlon (10K run, 40K bike, 5K run) in Carlsbad, Calif. He won four other 2001 duathlons, including the Dannon races in Boston, New Orleans and Grenelefe, Fla. He was second at the Dannon race in Alpharetta, Ga., and at Powerman Alabama (10K run, 60K bike, 5K run). He placed 10th at the ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships (15K run, 60K bike, 7.5K run).

A top professional road cyclist, Ratkovic won her first U.S. elite national championship title in 2001 by finishing as the top American (third overall) at the U.S. championships in Carlsbad. She also won four other duathlons, including the Dannon Duathlons in Everett, Wash., and Boston and she was eighth at Powerman Tennessee (10K run, 60K bike, 10K run).

"Greg and Andrea are two of the athletes who are taking duathlon to a whole new level and showing how exciting and rewarding it can be," Locke said. The elite duathlon awards are voted on by the Athletes Advisory Council and one of the athlete representatives of the USA Triathlon Board of Directors.