Beijing bound Will Clarke and Hollie Avil both took gold at today's Corus
Elite Series triathlon in Bryn Bach Park, Wales, to be crowned as the
British Champions just two days before they fly to the Team GB preparation
camp in Korea.
Clarke battled throughout the 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run with
fellow Team GB members Tim Don and Alistair Brownlee, but managed to hold
them, and Stuart Hayes, off to take the win. In a competitive race the
athletes showed good form following a heavy training block leading into the
Olympic Games.
Clarke said on taking the win:
"I can't believe it, I felt so good out there. I just can't wait to go to
Beijing now, its going to be great. I've put in the biggest block of
training and was killing myself with the Great Britain warm weather training
camp in Spain last week so it's good to race so well when I'm this tired. I
just can't believe it."
Tim Don said: "I decided to take the first four kilometres of the run easy and build into
it; I didn't want to go flat out from the start as that takes a lot out of
you and I've got to fly to Korea in a couple of days time. I wanted to win,
but left my charge a bit late and Will was awesome."
In the women's race eighteen year old Hollie Avil looked impressive as she
tore through the swim and bike before accelerating away in the 5km of the
run to win her first British senior title ahead of Liz Blatchford and Andrea
Whitcombe.
Avil said on her win: "I didn't go out there thinking I needed to win today as I've come off a
large block of training; so this caps off an excellent week. I wanted to
make it hard on the bike as it's going to be similar in Beijing in just a
few weeks time.
"I've still got to do all my packing and make sure I don't forget anything,
but I'm really looking forward to China and getting on that plane."
Avil is the 2007 Junior European and World Triathlon Champion and sealed her
Olympic Games selection following a fourth place finish at the Madrid BG
Triathlon World Cup in May.
The athletes now fly to the Korean island of Jeju on Monday ahead of the
Olympic Games. The team will fly into Beijing four days before the
competition which is held at Shisanling Reservoir, just north of the city,
on 18 and 19 August.
Corus Elite Series men's result:
1. Will Clarke, England
2. Tim Don, England
3. Stuart Hayes, England
Corus Elite Series women's result:
1. Hollie Avil, England
2. Liz Blatchford, England
3. Andrea Whitcombe, England
About British Triathlon
British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK's
fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong
squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international
success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its development
programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has
seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 650
triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year, including the Corus
Elite Series which attracts athletes from all over the world and the
renowned Mazda London Triathlon and. For more information visit
www.britishtriathlon.org.
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