Africa Triathlon

Bronze last year in Hamburg and gold this year in Vancouver for Vincent Luis of France as he won todays triathlon junior world championships.  Despite the steady rainfall and winter-like temperatures, Luis seemed at ease and coasted to a comfortable 30-second margin of victory.  He adds the prestigious junior world title to the European junior title he won last month in Lisbon.  Russian Denis Vasiliev took the silver while Great Britains Jonathon Brownlee came from behind to take bronze.

I won the French championships and then the European championships so I only wanted to win the world championships so Im very happy, said Luis.

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Water temperature was measured at a chilly 13 degrees as the junior men took the start line at the English Bay beach.  Luis and Vasiliev were among the leaders as they exited the water while Brownlee was almost 20 second behind.  Athletes had to carefully negotiate the tight corners on the 20-kilometer bike course as the rain created slick conditions.  A lead group of three that included Luis and Vasiliev, along with Australian Joshua Amberger, quickly formed and began to put distance between their chasers.  As the three men took the bell lap they were up by a full minute and ten seconds. 

Luis was first out of T2 and immediately set the pace on the 5-kilometer run course.  The French teenager from Paris took command and wouldnt relinquish the lead as he ran to his first ever junior world championship.  Last year he was third behind his teammate Aurelien Raphael who won last year.  Luis becomes the fourth Frenchman to be crowned junior world champion.  Vasiliev managed to hold onto silver while Brownlee completed an impressive comeback during the run to secure the final spot on the podium.  Amberger came across the line in fourth place while Mexicos Rodrigo Gonzalez rounded out the top five.

2008 Vancouver BG Triathlon World Championships, Canada
Junior Men Official Results
750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
1 Vincent Luis - France 0:57:06
2 Denis Vasiliev - Russia 0:57:36
3 Jonathon Brownlee - Great Britain 0:57:43
4 Joshua Amberger - Australia 0:57:52
5 Rodrigo Gonzalez - Mexico 0:58:19
6 Franz Loeschke - Germany 0:58:24
7 Min Ho Heo - Korea 0:58:26
8 Igor Polyanskiy - Russia 0:58:35
9 Tom Davison - New Zealand 0:58:39
10 David Obozil - France 0:58:40
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