McWilliam Junior World Champion

by World Triathlon Admin on 05 Jun, 2008 12:00

For the second straight year Great Britain won the junior womens world championship. Kirsty McWilliam of Glasgow, Scotland overcame cold and wet conditions in Vancouver, Canada to win todays junior world title.

It was freezing out there this morning but Im from Scotland so Im very used to it, said McWilliam.

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Ashleigh Gentle of Australia out-sprinted Hungarian Zsofia Toth down the final stretch to take silver. It was the second straight year Gentle has won silver at the junior world championships.

Anais Moniz of Portugal, the junior world champion from 2005, and Alena Stawczynski of Germany led the junior women out of the water and headed out onto the 20-kilometer bike course alone. The two held a 23-second lead after the swim but was pulled into the chase pack on the second lap of the bike.

McWilliam was down by more than 20 seconds after the swim but quickly bridged up to the leaders on the second lap of the bike. After entering the second transition even with Stawczynski, McWilliam began to take control of the race. Midway through the 5-kilometer run, the Scot had built an insurmountable 39-second lead. Carrying the British and Scottish flags, McWilliam crossed the line in tears as she was crowned the 2008 junior world champion. Last year McWilliam finished 7th, a race won by her countrywoman Hollie Avil.

Gentle and Toth came down ran together for most of the run but Gentle showed off her strong final finishing kick to outsprint Toth to the line. Zimbabwes Ashley Finaughty finished in fourth place while Aussie Emma Jackson rounded out the top five. Home favourite Paula Findlay finished in 9th place.

2008 Vancouver BG Triathlon World Championships, Canada
Junior Women Official Results
1 Kirsty McWilliam - Great Britain 1:04:05
2 Ashleigh Gentle - Australia 1:04:43
3 Zsofia Toth - Hungary 1:04:47
4 Ashley Finaughty - Zimbabwe 1:05:07
5 Emma Jackson - Australia 1:05:18
6 Alena Stawczynski - Germany 1:05:22
7 Claudia Rivas - Mexico 1:05:23
8 Maaike Caelers - Netherlands 1:05:27
9 Paula Findlay - Canada 1:05:28
10 Nataliya Efremova - Russia 1:05:32
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