The Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series 2011 was a series of six World Championship Triathlon events leading to a Grand Final held in Beijing, China in September 2011. The Series was organised under the auspices of the world governing body of triathlon, the International Triathlon Union (ITU), and was sponsored by Dextro Energy.
Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series visited Sydney, Yokohama, Madrid, Kitzbühel, Hamburg, London and Beijing. The series also for the first time included the ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championship in Lausanne. The Grand Final in Beijing included the Under 23, Junior and Paratriathlon World Championships, which were decided over a single race.
Great Britain won both the men's and women's elite titles as Alistair Brownlee and Helen Jenkins both claimed their second elite world titles. Britain also swept the medals in the men's under 23 title as Matthew Sharp led his teammates to claim his first title. Agnieszka Jerzyk claimed Poland's first ITU Triathlon world title as she won the under 23 championship. In the juniors, American Lukas Verzbicas and New Zealand's Mikayla Nielsen also claimed their first world titles.
In the Paratriathlon world championships, titles went to Jane Egan (TRI 1), Faye McClelland (TRI 4), Charlotte Ellis (TRI 6). Titles also went to Danielle McLaughlin, Melissa Stockwell and Jennifer Hopkins In the men's events titles went to Steven Judge (TRI 3), Yannick Bourseaux (TRI 4), Benjamin Landier (TRI 5), Bill Chaffey (TRI 1), Oswald Kydd (TRI 2), Rodrigo Feola (TRI 6).
Overview
Points and prize money Points were awarded to the top 40 in the World Championship Series and went to the top 50 in the Grand Final. Each World Series event had a prize fund of $150,000 and the Grand Final had a pool of $250,000. The overall rankings had a $500,000 bonus prize fund, awarded after the Grand Final making it the biggest payday in Triathlon.
Position Grand Final World Championship Series&Sprint World Championships11200800211107403102768549506335879586681354277525018695464964342910595397
Position World Championship Series&Sprint World Championships Grand Final Bonus Pool1$18,000$30,000$55,0002$13,000$22,000$42,0003$9,500$16,000$30,0004$7,000$12,000$20,0005$5,300$9,300$16,0006$4,300$7,500$12,0007$3,600$6,000$10,0008$3,000$4,800$8,0009$2,500$3,800$7,50010$2,100$3,200$7,000
Calendar The 2011 series visited three Olympic courses: Sydney, Beijing for the grand final and the 2012 Olympic course in London. In addition, the series also had the 2007 World Championship course of Hamburg and was scheduled to return to Yokohama. For the first time ever, the series included the Sprint World Championships which contributed to the 2011 World Championship series.
DateLocationStatusApril 9–10 SydneyEvent14 May YokohamaEventJune 4–5 MadridEventJune 18–19 KitzbühelEventJuly 16–17 HamburgEventAugust 6–7 LondonEventAugust 20–21 LausanneSprint DistanceSeptember 10–11 BeijingGrand Final
In April, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the round set to take place in Yokohama was postponed by the ITU. The ITU felt that it would be too risky to try to stage the round there when the nuclear level was near maximum. In May, it was announced that the Yokohama round would be rescheduled for September and would take place on September 18 and 19. However, as it takes place after the Grand Final, the points and money gained in Yokohama would go towards the 2012 series.
Series The overall World Champion is the triathlete with the highest score from four series events added to their points total from the Grand Final. A triathlete may also take their score from a minimum of two ITU World Series events, including the Sprint World Championship, and two World Cup events to be eligible for the top 20 in the rankings in addition to their Grand Final score. All events were run over the Olympic distance of a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bike and a 10 km run, with the exception of the Sprint World Championship, which was held over half the distance.
Sydney
The 2011 series began in Sydney, Australia, and was held on the course that hosted the first Olympic games triathlon in 2000. The swim course was held in Farm Cove with two 750-metre laps, before heading to transition outside of the Sydney Opera House. Athletes then biked eight laps of a 5 km course that extended from the Opera House and down the Cahill Expressway and Macquarie Street. After the bike section, the competitors transitioned on College Street and then proceeded to complete four laps of a 2.5 km run circuit down Macquarie Street before finishing the triathlon on College Street.
The competition field for the race included 2010 Grand Final winner Emma Snowsill, who was plagued by injury in 2010, as well as all ten athletes from last year's the overall rankings were present on the men's side.
For the women, Paula Findlay won the race, beating out Bárbara Riveros Díaz. The two were among a group of six on the run section that included Laura Bennett, Andrea Hewitt, Carole Peon and Tomoko Sakimoto. Other notable finishes included 2010 World Champion Emma Moffatt and Olympic Champion Snowsill, who finished 13th and 42nd.
On the men's side, rain made the race conditions difficult. Reigning World Champion Javier Gómez incurred a fall during the bike leg, causing him to fall off the pace of the race pack for the final 10 kilometres of the bike. Gómez managed to catch the lead group; however, Jonathan Brownlee, Alistair Brownlee, Sven Riederer, Brendan Sexton and David Hauss were in front of him. Alistair fell on one of the turns during the run before falling off the pace and out of contention. Gómez eventually passed the leaders, with only Jonathan keeping pace with him for a short while. Gómez finished first with Jonathan second and Riederer third. Alistair, the 2009 World champion, finished 29th.
Madrid
The Madrid course was based in Casa de Campo park. Competitors started the race by jumping into the lake, where they swam two 750-metre laps. After transition, the athletes completed four 10 km laps of the park, which featured a 400-metre climb at a 12% grade. The run section featured four 2.5 km laps around the park to the finish.
In the men's race, the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Johnathan, and Gómez exited the swim first and quickly formed, with eight others, an eleven-man breakaway group. At the end of the first bike lap, the breakaway had accumulated a 20-second lead. Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno bridged the gap and the now 12-man breakaway pushed on to the run section with a two-minute lead. On the run, the Brownlees separated themselves from the pack, along with Gómez. However, Gómez fell off the pace and the finish became a one-on-one duel between the brothers. In the final kilometre, Alistair kicked away from Jonathan before stopping in the finishing straight and walking across the line with his brother, with Johnathan making sure that Alistair crossed first. It was the first time that both brothers had appeared on the podium and it was Alistair's third straight win in Madrid. Gómez's third place kept him at the top of the overall standings, five points ahead of Jonathan. Polyansky, who finished fifth in Madrid, rounded out the top three in the overall standings. With his win, Alistair jumped up 20 places in the standings to fifth place in the overall standings.
In the women's competition, Laura Bennett and Andrea Hewitt joined Paula Findlay at the front coming out of the swim. However, once on the bike the three women were caught and a peloton of 16 formed. At the end of the bike, the lead peloton had a 30-second lead over the chasers. On the run Findlay raced away with Hewitt as the pair was pursued by Helen Jenkins and Díaz, creating a group of four. But after four kilometres, Díaz dropped off the pace on the final lap and Hewitt found the pace to be too tough and dropped back only to be passed for third by Emmie Charayron. Findlay and Jenkins were neck and neck until the final 400 metres when Findlay kicked away for her second consecutive 2011 World Series win. Findlay continued where she left off as she won, adding to her win in Sydney. With this race, Findlay had won four of her last five world series events, having won in Kitzbühel and London in 2010. After the race, the overall championship was led by Findlay with Díaz and Hewitt second and third. Bennett was fourth and Jenkins moved up to fifth.
Kitzbühel Kitzbühel is one of the smallest venues of the series; despite this, the venue has been on the series since its inception. The triathlon began with two 750-metre laps around Schwarzsee Lake. The bike section had athletes ride a 6.68 km course which they lapped six times. The competitors' final leg was a four-lap 2.5 km run course. The 1997 World Champion Chris McCormack returned to ITU triathlons for the first time since 2004 with this race. Current World Champion Javier Gómez and Olympic Champion Jan Frodeno and Jonathan Brownlee missed this event to concentrate on the European Championships which took place the week after Kitzbühel.
The men competed in cold, wet, windy conditions. Alistair Brownlee came out of the swim in the lead but was soon part of a 50-man peloton on the bike. However, Brownlee, Stuart Hayes and Reinaldo Colucci broke away to lead the field by 30 seconds entering the second transition. Once out of transition and on the run, Brownlee dropped Hayes and Colucci and went on to record his second Kitzbühel win, having won previously in 2009. Behind him, Alexander Brukhankov, Brad Kahlefeldt, Sven Riederer, William Clarke and Laurent Vidal formed a group that passed Hayes and Colucci. Halfway through the run, Brukhankov made a break for second place before Riederer broke on the final lap to secure third. Clarke won the battle for fourth as Kahelfeldt finished fifth and Vidal sixth. Meanwhile, McCormack's return to ITU racing triathlon was cut short as he pulled out of the race on the bike. Following the race, Alistair Brownlee led the overall championship standings over Brukhankov with Gómez and Jonathan Brownlee now third and fourth with Riederer moving up to fifth.
In the women's race, Sarah Haskins led the women's field coming out of the water with Helen Jenkins next, down 20 seconds, and Paula Findlay a minute behind. Haskins and Jenkins broke away on the bike but were unable to sustain a 40-second first lap lead before being caught on the fourth lap by a chase group of 19. On the run, the race came down to Findlay, Jenkins and Sarah Groff with Jenkins losing out to Findlay once again, finishing second. With the win, Findlay became the most successful woman in the series' three-year history with five wins. It was the Canadian's third consecutive win on the 2011 series. Elsewhere, Emma Moffatt, who fell behind the lead group on the bike, caught up to the field on the run to finish fourth. Ai Ueda had a strong run performance, passing most of the field en route to seventh-place finish. In the overall standings, Findlay had a perfect score and was approximately 500 points ahead of Díaz, Hewitt, Bennett and Jenkins who rounded out the top five.
Hamburg