ITU Ishigaki World Cup
Ishigaki, Japan
Sunday, May 19, 2002
1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run - draft legal

Ishigaki, Japan: Weather conditions on the idyllic Okawa island of Ishigaki were perfect for triathlon today at the start of the women's World Cup event. Slightly overcast, air temperature 25oC, with a light breeze off the South China Sea.

Men's Race
Peter Robertson of Australia continued his winning streak today in Ishigaki, Japan by claiming his second World Cup title of 2002, following up on his earlier win at the ITU Geelong World Cup. Despite a slow start, Robertson was down 1 minute 30 seconds from the leaders heading into the first transition after the 2-lap 1.5km swim, he made up all of the time on the bike.

Tsukasa Hirano of Japan led the strong field of men through the swim section, then joined up with Russian newcomer Ivan Vassiliev on the bike. The duo was caught on the second lap of the 40km bike section by a group that included: 2001 Ishigaki Champion Ivan Rana of Spain, the 2001 World Ranked #1 Chris Hill of Australia and the New Zealand trio of Kris Gemmel, Craig Watson and Bevan Docherty.

On the fourth lap of the bike, Robertson, who was in the third group, managed to bridge to the front pack which set the stage for the final run section. At this point, all of the race favourites were together, including the French running specialist Carl Blasco and Ukraine's Andrej Gluschenko. There were plenty of Japanese athletes in this group as well, such as Olympians Takumi Obara and Hiroyucki Nishiuchi, which gave the 45,000 spectators in attendance lots to cheers about.

Although Kris Gemmel of New Zealand was the first out of transition onto the run, Peter Robertson soon took over the race and led the entire run. Spain's Ivan Rana was never far off the pace, running about 5 metres back. 26 second back was a large group lead by Craig Watson, Carl Blasco, and Beven Docherty.

In the end, Robertson cruised to the finish, but not before taking time to greet his many Ishigaki fans. He was mere 22 seconds ahead of Rana. Kris Gemmel of New Zealand was 3rd in a dramatic sprint to the finish with Andrej Glushenko who was 4th. Bevan Docherty was 5th.

Greg Bennett of Australia, who sustained a serious facial injury after colliding with a concrete swim buoy, made a remarkable comeback. He joined up with the Austrian great Norbert Dominik to make up lost time on the bike. With blood dripping from his face during the entire event, he worked his way through the groups to overcome a 2:26 deficit and finish 6th.

Women's Race
Early into the 2 lap-1.5km swim, the lead group at the front contained few surprises: Americans Barb Lindquist, Sheila Taormina and Joanna Zeiger, along with Australians, Nicole Hackett and Loretta Harrop. With about 200 metres to go Hackett and Zeiger dropped off the pace, although Hackett recovered lost ground in the transition and was able to head off on the bike with the leaders. Zeiger had to cycle alone for 2 laps until she was swallowed up by the chase group which consisted of the 2001 World Champion, Siri Lindley (USA), Carla Morena of Brazil, Pip Taylor of Australia, Susie Stark of the USA and Machiko Nakanishi of Japan. With a two-minute deficit on the leaders, the chase group had their work cut out from the start.

Over the 6 lap-40km bike course, the front pack of 4 increased their lead on each lap - 2 minutes after 4 laps, 2:40 after 5, then to an insurmountable 3:10 on the final lap. The 12 trips up and down the bridge proved too much for the chase pack on this day, despite a valiant effort from Siri Lindley to drag the group within reach of the leaders.

From the second transition to the final kilometer of the run, Barb Lindquist and Loretta Harrop ran shoulder to shoulder. It wasn't until the final downhill off the bridge then onto the flat section to the finish that Barb put the move on Loretta - a challenge to which the three-time winner of the Ishigaki World Cup would not be able to respond. Lindquist's lead in the final moments increased to 25 seconds.

Meanwhile the battle between Nicole Hackett and Sheila Taormina became a see-saw struggle for the final step on the podium. In the end, it was Hackett who pulled out all of the stops, taking Sheila at the line by 7 seconds. Carla Morena of Brazil posted the fastest run split of the day to come in 5th, with Joanna Zeiger 6th and Siri Lindley 7th. The crowd of 28,000 that lined the course were delighted with the dramatic finish to the race.

The World Cup Circuit takes a next weekend off then moves to Gamagori, Japan for the 4th round of the ITU 2002 World Cup Series.