ITU World Cup in Madrid - the bitter and the sweet of sport
May 26th, 2008 by Dan HugoI wrote over the festive season on time spent with some foreigners, training in and around Stellenbosch. Will Clarke (home), Andreas Raelert, Tim Don (home)- friends of mine - had to qualify their Olympic spots this weekend. I’ve not seen a more committed effort by an athlete than by Andreas. He missed out today. But Will and Tim are in.
(Swim start - tense moments on qualification day)
Such is the game of sport. Without guarantee or care for the law of sowing and reaping. One man’s pain is another man’s treasure. I hope this will be the start of a success 70.3 and Ironman career for Andreas.
(Andreas Raelert - double Olympian and doubly great guy)
I am equally excited for Tim Don to go to his third Olympics, and for Will Clark to attend his first.
(Will applying some hurt on the hilly course)
All those Four Passes rides must have paid dividends… Will finished 6th, third Brit after Alistair Brownlee and Tim. Top three Brits under 8th were automatic.
(The Don heading out of T2 - currently ranked number 1 in the world)
Don ran in 4th.
The race was won, again, but Xavier Gomez, who also spent two training blocks in Stellenbosch this summer. Must be something in the water there.
(Gomez striding away for the win)
One of my Nekada team mates had a good start to his racing season this weekend: Have a look at the photo’s on Dejan’s site, and read the report if you can comprehend the language barrier…
