Beijing Olympian Will Clarke returned to form at today’s Corus Elite Series in Strathclyde Park, the venue for the triathlon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Clarke raced through the super sprint format competition, cruising through his heat before pipping fellow Team GB member, Alistair Brownlee, for the gold in the final. Having exited the 300m open water swim off the pace, Clarke was forced to chase down Brownlee during the 7km cycle, finally catching him with just one of the three 2.5km laps to go. However a swift final transition saw Clarke steal an early lead on the 2km run and he was able to hold off the charging Brownlee for victory. Dann Brook made it an all British podium with a third place finish.
The result in North Lanarkshire was a welcome return to the podium for Clarke following a disappointing Olympic Games where he finished fourteenth.
“It was nice to be out and racing well after the Olympics. I haven’t really trained that much in the past couple of weeks, but I was so fit going into the Games that I’ve been able to stay competitive. Beijing was very disappointing for me as I was in the form of my life; but I just didn’t show it on the day.”
In the women’s race New Zealand’s Samantha Warriner buried the demons from her Olympic Games, where she finished 16th, with an excellent performance. The Commonwealth Games silver medalist held off Germany’s Olympian Christine Pilz and Britain’s Jodie Swallow to take first place.
“It was great to come and race in Scotland in such a good field,” she said. “I had a torrid time out in Beijing so to come away with a win in my first race back fills me with confidence for the final races of the year. Strathclyde Park is such a beautiful place to hold a triathlon; it’s going to be a fantastic venue for the Commonwealth Games.”
Glasgow’s Kerry Lang overcame a leg injury from her heat to place fifth. When changing from bike to run in her first race she slipped and cut her leg on the gears of her bike, however thankfully much of the damage was superficial.
Scotland’s World Junior Champion, Kirsty McWilliam, finished tenth in the final. Having been held up in the swim she was unable to bridge back up to the leaders but ran strongly to pull herself through the field.
The Corus Elite race in Strathclyde Park also concluded the season long British Triathlon Grand Prix Series. Having raced across six venues Britain’s Richard Stannard finished first with Stuart Hayes second with Dann Brook moving up to third. There was a tie in the women’s competition as Andrea Whitcombe and Jodie Swallow finished on 297 points with Samantha Herridge from Guernsey and Vicky Holland tied for third with 288 points.
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.
For more information visit www.britishtriathlon.org.
About Corus
Corus Group Plc is one of the world’s leading steel producers with annual turnover of over £9 billion and major operating facilities in the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Belgium. Corus’ divisions comprising Strip Products, Long Products, Distribution & Building Systems and Aluminium provide innovative solutions to the construction, automotive, rail, general engineering and packaging markets worldwide. Corus has 41,200 employees in over 40 countries and sales offices and service centres worldwide.
Corus is British Triathlon’s premier commercial sponsor. This sports sponsorship is a first for both Corus and British Triathlon and demonstrates Corus’ commitment to developing Great Britain’s triathlon talent and to investing in the sport’s longer-term legacy through support of grassroots initiatives. At grassroots level, Corus will support a number of community-based initiatives including nationwide programmes to develop triathlon for school age children through ‘Corus Kids of Steel’ and for athletes with a disability at a community level. Corus’ sponsorship will go towards helping British Triathlon in all aspects of the sport, with the aim of developing strong future athletes at all levels through to the Elite. Triathlon, which first became an Olympic sport in 2000, is already the UK’s fastest growing sport.
About EventScotland
EventScotland is the national events agency. EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org.
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