Africa Triathlon

The clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped to 18 degrees Celsius as the Elite women took the start line.  Pre race favourite, Annabel Luxford (AUS), pulled out early in the race due to a sore foot she injured recently in training.  This left the race wide open for New Zealander Debbie Tanner to claim the first podium of her young career in a sprint finish with veteran Michelle Dillon (GBR).  Last years winner Samantha Warriner (NZL) finished third only seconds behind.

Watch exlcusive race video from Ishigaki here now on

I am stoked.  Ive never been on a podium before.  said winner Tanner.  My first podium and its on top.  I felt really strong today and this season has been a dream so far.

The race was covered live by Japanese television and broadcast across the entire country.

The entire swim was led by American Sara McLarty, who finished fourth in the 2005 World Open-Water Swimming Championships, as she dominated the field building a 45 second lead by the 750 metre mark taking the swim prime.  By the end of the swim she posted a time 1 minute and 20 seconds faster then the next woman and 20 seconds faster then the top man.

McLarty took off quickly on the bike maintaining her lead over the second pack which contained Luxford, Warriner, Tanner, Kiyomi Niwata (JPN) and Lauren Groves (CAN).  She was eventually caught on the third lap after taking the second prime of the day. 

Dillon managed to close a 70 second gap after the swim, working hard with training partner Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) on the bike.  The women stayed together for the remainder of the bike leaving things to be decided on the run.

Warriner, Dillon and Tanner immediately moved to the front of the run and worked well together, feeding off of each others strengths.  Carfrae and Groves ran the entire 10km only a few metres behind the lead group until the final 500 metres where Tanner made her move and only Dillon was able to go with her.

This set the stage for a final sprint between Dillon and Tanner coming into the final straight.  Unfortunately Dillon took a wrong turn coming in and found herself a few steps behind Tanner right from the start and never recovered.

I really thought I had a good chance of winning today but unfortunately the stars were not aligned for me.  said Dillon.

Warriner managed to hold off a fast approaching Carfrae to podium for the second time in two years at the ITU Ishigaki World Cup triathlon.

At least it was a Kiwi on top as that is the next best thing to winning. stated Warriner.

Luxford remains on top of the World Cup rankings.

2006 ITU Ishigaki World Cup Elite Women
1.TANNER, Debbie (NZL)1:58:34
2.DILLON, Michelle (GBR)1:58:36
3.WARRINER, Samantha (NZL)1:58:50
4.CARFRAE, Mirinda (AUS)1:58:58
5.GROVES, Lauren (CAN)1:59:09
6.WHITCOMBE, Andrea (GBR)1:59:45
7.NIWATA, Kiyomi (JPN)1:59:53
8.SAMUELS, Nicky (NZL)2:00:05
9.NAKANISHI, Machiko (JPN)2:00:26
10.HASKINS, Sarah (USA)2:00:40

2006 ITU World Cup rankings Elite Women
1.LUXFORD, Annabel (AUS)
2.BENNETT, Laura (USA)
3.FRANZMANN, Joelle (GER)
4.TANNER, Debbie (NZL)
5.DILLON, Michelle (GBR)
6.WARRINER, Samantha (NZL)
7.LISK, Ricarda (GER)
8.XING, Li (CHN)
9.NIWATA, Kiyomi (JPN)
10.FERNANDES, Vanessa (POR)

Click here for final results