Women's Triathlon to Decide First Medals in Inaugural Youth Olympic Games

by Masa Takaya on 11 Aug, 2010 08:24 • Español

The draw for YOG athletes is performed by Olympic medalist

Men’s Triathlon is scheduled to follow on 16 August. Team Triathlon is to be introduced on 19 August for its first time in a major multi-sport competition.

Promising young triathletes from around the world are ready to celebrate the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, which will open on Saturday, 14 August. The Women’s Triathlon will be highlighted Sunday and will decide the first medals of the Youth Games, set to start at 9 a.m. (local) at Singapore’s most popular beach, East Coast Park. The International Triathlon Union is also excited to introduce a truly-youth friendly format of the sport - Team Triathlon - for its first time in a major multi-sport competition.

The first medals will be contested among 32 young women, most of whom raced in Continental YOG Qualifier events to secure slots for their countries. Among those, Marlene Gomez-Isslinger (GER) is the winner of European qualifier, the most competitive round, with 41 athletes having competed. Adriana Barraza (MEX) won at the Pan-American qualifier on her home soil Monterrey, while 2009 ITU Aquathlon World Junior Champion Ellie Salthouse (AUS) finished on top of the podium in the Oceania round in January. Yuka Sato (JPN) dominated the Asian qualifier by three minutes and also participated in five rounds of Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series this year.

The Men’s race is scheduled for 9am on Monday the 16th, with all the winners of the continental qualifier events lined up. Abrahm Louw (NAM) topped the African Continental YOG Qualifier held in Pretoria, South Africa last year. Namibia and 11 other nations competing in Singapore have never participated in triathlon in the past three editions of the Olympic Games. Jérémy Obozil (FRA), Kirill Uvarov (KAZ) and Kevin McDowell (USA) were also winners of continental qualifier events. The Oceania round was won by Michael Gosman (AUS), who also claimed gold at the 2010 Wellington OTU Triathlon Oceania Championships in the Junior category.

Two Singaporean athletes are going to enjoy the cheers of crowds at East Coast Park on their home turf. Scott Ang Yiqiang is a student of the Anglo Chinese School Independent. The 16-year old competed at the ITU Junior World Championships in Gold Coast last year. Clara Wong from Victoria Junior College is pursuing to finish in the top 10 in women’s race.

Athletes competing in both the men and women’s races will complete a sprint-distance triathlon (750-metre swim, 20km bike, 5km run). A total of 64 athletes (32 men and 32 women) representing 42 nations from all continents are named on the start list, demonstrating a dramatic increase in diversity of the sport, particularly among youths.

A 4 x mixed relay - Team Triathlon - is set to start off at 9am on Thursday the 19th, making a historical debut in the global multi-sport competitions. ITU is very passionate about having the discipline added to the Olympic programme as this format appeals tremendously to youth. Teams will be made up of two women and two men from each continental federation, according to the athletes’ finishing positions in the individual events. Each of the four participants in the relay will complete a super-sprint triathlon (250-metre swim, 7km bike, 1.7km run) before tagging a team member to begin the next leg.

Competition Schedule: