USA dominates 12th FISU WUC Triathlon
The 12th Wold University Triathlon Championship took place on Sunday 20 April, in Brasília (DF). With five medals for Team USA, the Americans surely dominated the podium of this year’s edition.
Around 50 athletes from 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, United States, Slovakia, Great Britain, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Hungary, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, and Czech Republic) completed the race, swimming in the Paranoá Lake, crossing the famous JK Bridge and racing the streets of Brazil’s capital.
With the sun shining during the whole event and temperatures around 27º/29º C, Kevin McDowell (USA) won the men’s competition with a time of 2:03:38, followed by Tomas Renc (CZE), with 2:04:00 and Chris Branden (USA), with 2:04:33. Kevin McDowell was a silver medallist at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, held in Singapore. This is his first competition after successfully battling cancer. “I am amazed for my return to the competition, after a long time away from it, because of health issues. My teammates gave me all the support to be here. This victory means a lot, more than the Olympic medal. This WUC medal marks a turning point in my career”, said Kevin.
In the Women’s competition Zsofia Kovacks (HUN) has participated for the last time in a WUC and says goodbye to the University competition with a golden farewell. The athlete won the race with a time of 2:16:04. Heather Sellars (GBR) came in second, with 2:16:31 while Kaitlin Donner (USA) clocked 2:18:02 ranking third. “This is my last World University Championship. I am really happy for saying good bye landing on the highest spot of the podium. This victory was won through challenged conditions, because of the exhausting heat during the race”, Zsofia said.
Wesley Matos, original from Ceará (Northeast of Brazil) guaranteed the best Brazilian result between the Men and Women. The host athlete finished the race in fourth place, with a time of 2:05:24.
In the Team’s competition, the United States ruled the podium once more. The Americans won the women’s and men’s event. Great Britain finished second in the women’s team competition, followed by Japan. While in the men’s team competition, the podium was completed by Czech Republic, in second and once again Japan in third.
The WUC in Brasilia was hosted during the city’s 54 years anniversary celebration.
Three more FISU events were staged in Brazil this year, i.e. the 6th WUC Rugby 7, from 7 to 10 August in São José dos Campos (São Paulo); the 2nd WUC Basketball 3×3, from 18 to 21 September in Salvador (Bahia) and the International Beach Games, in Florianopolis (Santa Catarina) from 25 to 29 November.
The next edition (13th) of the World University Triathlon Championship will take place in Nyon, Switzerland, in 2016.