June 23/01 5:14 am - Level 3 Coaches Evaluation, IITU Triathlon World Cup in Toronto

Posted by Editoress on 06/23/01
 

Evaluation for Level 3 Cycling Coaches

Some level 3 coaches are waiting for their practical evaluation. The next few weeks offer several opportunities for this evaluation, such as Canada Games; Road, Track and Mountain Bike Nationals; Tour de l'Abitibi; Grand Prix Féminin International du Québec.

If you are in this situation awaiting an evaluation, please contact the Canadian Cycling Association at general@canadian-cycling.com or at (613) 248-1353 to set up an appointment for your level 3 practical.



Toronto Plays Host to the Worlds Top Triathletes

With just over two weeks to go, organizers are preparing to welcome hundreds of elite and age-group triathletes to the city for the second running of the Pizza Hut Toronto ITU Triathlon World Cup on Saturday, July 7th. It's shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested events of the season, with 12 of the top 20 world ranked women and 13 of the top 20 world ranked men all set to compete.

"Last year, the focus was on the debut of the sport in Toronto just prior to Triathlon's Olympic debut in Sydney," says Scott LeDrew, Executive Director for the Pizza Hut Toronto ITU Triathlon World Cup. "This year, the focus is on the amazing group of Elite Athletes from around the world who will help to show how perfect Toronto will be as the host city for the 2008 Olympics. The Athletes loved the course and they loved the city - that's a big reason why many are returning in 2001."

The day gets underway at 10 a.m. with the age-group competitions - a Sprint Triathlon, a Duathlon, Relay events and a kids fun run. The much-anticipated Women's and Men's World Cup Triathlons will follow - starting at 12:30 and 3:15 respectively.

Elite athletes will compete over a 1.5km swim course (2 laps in Lake Ontario) a 40km bike course (9 laps around the Molson Indy course at Exhibition Place) and a 10km run course (4 laps at Exhibition Place), while age-group competitors will complete a shorter version of the same course.

Elite women who have confirmed thus far include: Current world champion, Nicole Hackett (AUS), 1999 World Champion, Loretta Harrop (AUS), Olympic Silver Medallist, Michellie Jones (AUS), top ranked Americans, Siri Lindley, Barb Lindquist and Laura Reback, Brazilians Mariana Ohata, Sandra Soldan and Carla Moreno, 2000 Aquathlon (run/swim/run) Champion, Pilar Hidalgo (ESP), along with Canadian's Carol Montgomery from Vancouver (winner of last year's event) and teamate Sharon Donnelly from Kingston, who was second here last year.

So far the men's field includes: World Number one, Hamish Carter (NZL) and number two, Andrew Johns (GBR), the Australian threesome of Chris Hill, Chris McCormack and Greg Bennett along with last year's silver medallist, Gilberto Gonzalez (VEN) and the top two Mexican Athletes, Uzziel Valderrabano and Eligio Cervantes. Canada's Olympic Champion, Simon Whitfield, will also be on hand to defend home turf and show off his Olympic gold medal.

Free Grandstand seats are available to interested triathlon fans by contacting the Toronto Triathlon office at: Tel: 416.483.5124 or Email: torontotri@sympatico.ca. For those who can't make it down to Exhibition Place to watch the event live, CBC Sports will be bringing you all the action just one week from race day. The two-hour show will be broadcast on CBC Sports on Saturday, July 14th at 1:30 PM (ET) and again on Monday, July 16th at 1:30 AM (ET) - don't forget to set your VCR!!!

The support of event sponsors is instrumental in making this event happen. This year's sponsors include: Pizza Hut, Diet Pepsi, Aquafina, All-Sport, Volvo Cars of Canada, Nike Canada, PowerBar and Guru Bikes. A special thank you also goes out to all three levels of government for their continued support.