World
Frodeno wins gold in Men´s Triathlon
Source: Beijing2008.cn | 08-19-2008 16:17
Special Report: 2008 Beijing Olympic Games(BEIJING, August 19) -- With only 50 meters to go to the finish line, Jan Frodeno of Germany out-sprinted 2008 world champion Javier Francisco Gomez of Spain, Athens 2004 silver medallist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Simon Whitfield to claim the gold in the Men's Triathlon on Tuesday.
Gomez sped up 700 meters before the end to finish the race, but failed to break away from the leading group. Whitfield followed suit, but was caught by Frodeno, who kept the lead till the end. He clocked one hour, 48 minutes and 53.28 seconds. The German had no notable achievement in international tournaments on his resume previous to this Olympic win.
Whitfield came in second at one hour, 48 minutes and 58.47 seconds, and the bronze winner was Docherty, who finished in one hour, 49 minutes and 5.59 seconds.
New Zealand's Shane Reed led the men out of the water at 18 minutes and 0.31 seconds. He was followed closely by Igor Sysoev of Russia and Frederic Belaubre of France. Belaubre is a three-time World Cup winner.
The 55 competitors then broke into a leader group of 43 and a chase group of the rest at the start of the first of six laps in the cycling leg. The leader group shape remained unchanged until lap four, when Axel Zeebroek of Belgium, Dirk Bockel of Luxembourg and Serrano Francisco of Mexico took off and built a 44-second lead on the chase group. The leader group was then further reduced to only two members, as Serrano failed to keep up. The lead was increased to 52 seconds when the cycling leg concluded.
Zeebroek and Bockel were soon caught up by the chase group, as the cycling portion cost them so much energy that they could not help but fall back in the run.
A group of five was at the head when the bell was rung to signal the final lap. Frodeno, Whitfield, Docherty, Gomez and Ivan Rana of Spain ran the final straightaway first. Rana did not survive the last sprint for gold and finished fifth, after compatriot Gomez.
Editor:Si Qintu
