U.S. women Kirsten Kasper and Summer Cook finished 1-2 while Spain’s David Castro Fajardo took the men’s gold ahead of silver medalist Matthew McElroy of the U.S. at the ITU World Cup in Salinas, Ecuador.
Women
Kasper, who previously won three bronze medals in ITU World Cups, finished the 750-meter swim, 20 kilometer bike leg and 5 kilometer run in 59:16 which gave her a 7 seconds margin of victory over Cook and 15 seconds over 3rd-place finisher Gillian Sanders of South Africa.
Kasper, who started her World Cup season with back-to-back bronze medals, outran Cook 16:33 to 16:38 to take the gold.
“Words can’t describe how excited I am,” Kasper told ITU media. “I know Summer well from college, she ran for Villanova and I ran for Georgetown so we were big rivals. I knew that if we just worked together and work off of each other we would do well. I was feeling strong in the final lap, so I thought I would take over and push through to the finish.”
With her silver medal, Cook earned her second World Cup podium of the year. Sanders’ bronze marked the first World Cup podium of her career.
South African Mari Rabe swam 10:25, fronting a lead pack of 11 including Sanders and three U.S. women – Kasper, Cook and Taylor Spivey.
Training partners Lisa Norden of Sweden and Rabie led a pack of 9 women including Kasper, Cook, Sanders, Dominika Jamnicky of Canada, Emma Jackson of Australia, Michelle Flipo of France and Vanessa De La Torre of Mexico broke away to a one minute lead on the chasers.
At the start of the run, Kasper and Cook broke away to significant lead on their way to gold and silver.
Behind them, a pack of four including Sanders, Rabie, Norden and De La Torre ran side by side with 2 kilometers to go. Whereupon Sanders unleashed a kick which topped off a 3rd-best 16:47 run for the bronze – 12 seconds ahead of De La Torre, 27 seconds ahead of Jackson and 30 seconds ahead of Rabie.
Men
After closely packed swim and bike legs, the men’s race came down to an all-out 5k sprint, After the first 2.5 km lap, 8 men led the race including Igor and Dmitry Polyanskiy of Russia, Crisanto Grajales of Mexico, McElroy, Castro Fajardo, Antonio Serrat Seoane of Spain and Frenchmen Leo Bergere and Feliz Duchampt.
Near the end of the final lap, Castro Fajardo, Grajales, McElroy and Duchampt broke away in a dash for three medals. At the finish, Castro hit the tape first in 53:33, 1 second ahead of McElroy and 2 seconds ahead of Grajales.
“It really is unbelievable,” Castro Fajardo told ITU media. “This was a sprint distance and in the last kilometers myself and Crisanto (Grajales) attacked the field and I just am very happy with gold.”
Salinas ITU World Cup
Salinas, Ecuador
September 25, 2016
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Elite men
1. David Castro Fajardo (ESP) 53:33
2. Matthew McElroy (USA) 53:34
3. Crisanto Grajales (MEX) 53:35
4. Felix Duchampt (FRA) 53:37
5. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) 53:39
6. Léo Bergere (FRA) 53:41
7. Igor Polyanskiy (RUS) 53:44
8. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 53:52
9. Bence Bicsák (HUN) 53:55
10. Lukas Hollaus (AUT) 53:56
Elite Women
1. Kirsten Kasper (USA) 59:16
2. Summer Cook (USA) 59:23
3. Gillian Sanders (RSA) 59:31
4. Vanessa De La Torre (MEX) 59:43
5. Emma Jackson (AUS) 59:58
6. Mari Rabe (RSA) 1:00:01
7. Aoi Kuramoto (JPN) 1:00:03
8. Taylor Spivey (USA) 1:00:26
9. Dominika Jamnicky (CAN) 1:00:32
10. Michelle Flipo (FRA) 1:00:32
