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 NEWS ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS • Vansteelant, Csomor claim Powerman Holland • Barel, like Bordeaux, gets better with age • Almere: Another win for Vabrousek, first for Kristiansen • Almere features the long and the short this weekend • Belgium's Callebaut is top Euro age-grouper • Andrew Johns returns as European men's champ • Belgium's Smet surprises at Europeans • ETU is now "powered by Kjerag.com" • Europeans gather for European Champs • European Champs starting fields announced • Rob Barel: Olympic triathlon will be his last • Netherlands' Looze wins at home • "Dutch Elite" Zundert draws the best of Europe • Nice to be van der Marel's farewell |
Vansteelant, Csomor claim Powerman Holland Belgium’s Benny Vansteelant proved again why he is the most dominant duathlete in the world, winning the ITU Powerman Holland in Venray Sunday by a margin of more than two minutes. The 15k/60k/7.5k non-drafting race opened the European World Cup Powerman season and doubled as a qualifier for the Powerman World Championships in Austria for Dutch athletes. In the women’s race, reigning ITU world duathlon champion Erika Csomor of Hungary dominated the field, which included current ITU long-distance duathlon world champion Karin Thürig of Switzerland, by nearly nine minutes. Complete results are here: http://www.j-r-c.com/powerman/Results%202002/p-re_c.txt (RESULTS) Barel, like Bordeaux, gets better with age August 21, 2001, Kijkduin, The Netherlands Dutch triathlon legend Rob Barel took the youngsters to school in his first Xterra race Saturday, the Metterwoon Beach Challenge Triathlon Kijkduin near The Hague. The 42-year-old Barel—who ended his much-decorated career as professional triathlete last year after the Sydney Olympics—led from wire to wire, building up an impressive 2:45 lead off the bike. He was never challenged on the run and finished in an overall time of 2:04:50, three minutes clear of countryman Guido Gosselink in second. Gosselink is another road triathlon specialist who was coming off of a 15th place at the ITU Long Course Worlds earlier this month. Rounding out the all-Netherlands top five were Frans van Heteren in 2:08:11, Royce Kortekaas in 2:09:52, and Vincent Bruins in 2:10:31. Xterra Netherlands is the country’s only off-road triathlon, and it features a two-lap swim in the North Sea, 28 kilometers of cycling on the beach and up horse trails, and a 10-kilometer beach run up and over dunes and trails. The women’s race was taken by another master’s-age athlete, Joke Keuning of the Netherlands. Keuning, who won the race in the previous two years before its Xterra affiliation, gave up six minutes on the swim to countrywoman Marijke Zeekant, who was sixth at the ITU Long Course Worlds this month. Keuning made up the time on the bike, however, and passed Zeekant in transition to come home first in 2:31:18, with Zeekant second in 2:32:50. Judy van den Berg was third in 2:34:21, and Marianne Vlasveld, European winter triathlon champion, took fourth just three seconds back on the strength of a 37:37 run. Fifth spot went to Christine de Wit in 2:39:28. In an interview on the Xterra Netherlands website before the race, Barel—now a member of the Bianchi mountain bike team—said he trains 10 hours a week since his retirement: he still swims, bikes and runs regularly. Barel first took up mountain bike racing in 1997, completing a mountain bike beach race from Scheveningen to Noordwijk and back and winning the "fun" division. The next year, he returned and raced it as a professional alongside Dutch cycling pros Michael Boogert and Servais Knaven. He finished fifth. "I experienced then and there that mountain biking is one of my strong suits. As long as the course is not too technical," he said in the interview. As a pre-race prediction, Barel had this to say: "I'll just start and see where I will finish, but I am still fanatical enough to try and win it. But that also depends on the competition. I will punish them if they underestimate me." The win qualifies Barel for the Xterra World Championships on Maui in October. (RESULTS) ----- Almere: Another win for Vabrousek, first for Kristiansen September 4, 2000, Almere, Netherlands (from correspondent Dirk Kantlehner for www.slowtwitch.com): Czech Petr Vabrousek -- already the winner of two Ironmans this year -- and Denmark's Lisbeth Kristiansen, in her first-ever Ironman-distance race, ended up the winners on Saturday in Triathlon Almere. Taking advantage of the incredibly flat course, known for its fast times, Vabrousek became only the third-non Dutchman in the race's 20-year history to win (Finland's Pauli Kiuru, 1989, and Switzerland's Olivier Bernhard, 1994, were the others). Vabrousek won in 8:15:24, a personal-best time for the still-developing Ironman, finishing with a 2:44:36 marathon. Second was Finland's Anssi Lehtinen (8:17:14), less than two minutes back. He gave Vabrousek a scare with his 2:42:26 marathon. The weather was far from ideal, as the depression "Sybille" was expected to bring rain. Right from the swim start, it was windy and cool, with dark clouds -- but no rain yet. That came later, and the marathon ended up in a downpour. Russia's Alexander Merzlov set the pace out of the water. He finished the 3.8km swim in 46:50, some 200 meters in front of the rest. Off the bike, Germany's Heiko Tewes was first into transition and out onto the run, followed seconds later by Netherlands' own Peter Dillo. But then came six more, including Vabrousek and Dutchman Frank Heldoorn. Vabarousek broke into the lead just 3km into the run, but the others kept it close the whole way. In the end, Heldoorn had to settle for third, with his 2:54:31 marathon, but he managed anyway to take his fourth Dutch long-distance championship. For Vabrousek, it was his fourth Ironman this year -- plus Nice (18th), plus another similar long race back home in the Czech Republic. He has now finished first (Ironman South Africa), second (Ironman California), first (Ironman Asia) and first (Almere). And in six weeks, he will do the Hawaii Ironman. "Some people think I am crazy racing so much, but I enjoy it," he said simply. For Kona on October 14, he has no special plans. "Hawaii is a different race, and I just want to learn from it," said the man who was a rower for 11 years before turning to triathlons. The women's race was a one-woman show by Denmark's Kristiansen, who was doing her first long-distance race. She won in an amazing 9:08:23 -- a time that places her 14th on the all-time list for Ironmans. At 28, she is a short-course specialist who opened her 2000 season with a win in the ITU World Age-Group Championships in Perth in April. Now, she could switch over entirely to long-course racing, if she wanted. "I am very, very pleased with this result," she said, having come into the transition area only 20 minutes after the leading men -- but still 20 minutes ahead of the second woman, Netherlands' Cora Vlot. "I had a good swim (54:51), and I am a strong biker (4:54:54). "For the future, I will not switch from short- to long-distance: I will actually do both." Kristiansen ran confidently to a fast marathon (3:18:18). She left second place for Vlot (9:36:09), who found consolation in her second Dutch title. (RESULTS) ----- Almere features the long and the short this weekend August 30, 2000, Almere, Netherlands (from correspondent Wim van den Broeck for www.slowtwitch.com): Like Kona, Nice and, now, Sydney, Almere has a special place and history in the sport of triathlon. This weekend, triathletes of Holland and the rest of Europe gather for the 20th Dutch Open Championships Triathlon Long Distance in Almere. It is, indeed, the oldest triathlon history in Netherlands. Three times the European Long-Distance Championships (even last year), the race is full of rich stories: Remember Rob Barel struggling with a flat tire, begging for help and being disqualified. Remember Axel Koenders, in the early years of triathlon, winning this event four times. And remember last year's race, which produced European champions in Irma Heeren and Jan van der Marel (who said goodbye to the sport in Nice in June). That Ironman-distance race awaits on Saturday. At 7:30 a.m., the women lead off: Bianca van Dijk, Cora Vlot and Mariska Postma from Netherlands; Robyn Roocke from Australia; Katja Pakarinen from Finland and Christel van Eesbeek from Belgium. Fifty-eight minutes later (the time difference between the winning male and female times last year), the men start. From the Netherlands are Frank Heldoorn, Guido Gosselink, Chris Brands, Rob Schilder, Bert Flier, Edwin van Dort, Peter-Johan Dillo, Casper van den Burgh, Tiedo Tinga and master Richard van Diesen. >From Czech Republic comes Petr Vabrousek, the race favorite and already the winner of two Ironmans this year, at Ironman South Africa in February and Ironman Asia in July. Filling out the field are Finland's Ansi Lehtinen, Belgium's Marc Herremans and Russia's Alexander Merzlov. Course records are 7:57:46 (Van der Marel) and 8:56:23 (Heeren), so the course is known to be extremely flat and fast. But preceding the long race is a first-time event on Friday evening, the final race of the Netherlands' Elite-Series 2000 in the Netherlands. After Zundert, Nuenen and Holten, this is the fourth race of the Olympic-distance series. Heading the field are four of the Dutch Olympic team: Wieke Hoogzaad and Silvia Pepels, and Eric van der Linden and Dennis Looze. Also racing, for men, are Huib Rost, Raymond Lotz, Ralph Zeetsen, Sander Berk, Andre Laven, Luc Huntjens and Jochen Cals (all Netherlands); Fedor Filipov, Leonid Ivanov, Evgeni Morozov and Juri Kluchine (all from Russia); Troy McKinna and Chippy Slater (both from Australia); New Zealand's Kris Gemmell and Germany's Christian Billau. Other women racing are Dutch champ Lucienne Groenendijk; Jenette Tolhoek-van Dalen, also from Netherlands; Czech Republic's Lenka Radova; Denmark's Lisbeth Kristensen; and Germany's Yvonne Kromker. ----- Belgium's Callebaut is top Euro age-grouper July 9, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Thirty-seven-year-old Johan Callebaut, once one of Belgium's top triathlhetes, conceded to his age today as he raced and won the open (age-group) portion of the Essent European Championships Triathlon 2000. "I had hoped only to win my age-group, and had no idea of winning overall," he said. "That's the surprise of these kinds of races. I like the international ambiance." Callebaut won in 2:04:14, to Hungary's Tamas Kiptak (2:04:46). Women's winner was the Netherlands' Sione Jongstra, who beat Germany's Daniela Preukschat by 22 seconds. The masters (40+) divisions also had a Belgian men's winner -- Karl Blondeel, eight times a national champion in his prime -- and a Dutch women's winner, Marijke Zeekant, who still races long-distance and team events as an elite. The four were the best among 350 age-groupers from 32 countries. They raced on the cool Saturday morning under cloud cover. Callebaut found the course challenging, and contrary to the all-flat terrain that Holland is known for. In the south, where Limburg touches the German and Belgian borders, there are hills, and Callebaut used them to his favor. "I didn't know I was first, because there were masters in front of me," he said. "But on the last hill, I knew I was close. The bike and run courses were both hard, but they were fair because there was no drafting for us. I don't do the ITU or the Belgian prestige races because of the drafting." Callebaut's grandest moment as an elite came in 1996, when Simon Lessing won the European Championships in Echtenach, and he finished 23rd. Blondeel, 39 (but 40 by the ETU age system), also has a long past: He said he started in the sport after he saw Julie Moss crawl in the infamous Ironman telecast. Three weeks ago, he finished second in his age-group, 35-39, in the Nice Triathlon/ITU World Long-Distance Championships. (In Stein, he raced 40+ because he is 40 this year). Zeekant, 43, was racing her first European Championships. She was a 1988 Olympian in rowing. ------ Andrew Johns returns as European men's champ July 8, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Making his move in the final kilometer, Britain's Andrew Johns outran Switzerland's Reto Hug to regain the men's European Triathlon Championships title that he had won in 1998. Johns and Hug, the 1999 champion, kept Netherlands' Eric van der Linden, the early leader on the run, from claiming a win in his own country. Dutchman Rob Barel, who will race the Olympics at 42 in September, had hoped to be his country's first finisher. But he crashed very early on his bike on the wet streets on the cool evening, and was one of the race's DNFs. Johns won in 1:54:31, four seconds ahead of Hug. Van der Linden was third, five seconds behind. "I was pretty happy to finally get away from Reto, because I know how good his kick is," said Johns, who does much of his training in Switzerland alongside Hug. "I managed to crack him." Said van der Linden: "I was focused only on this race -- and I knew I had to get away in the first three kilometers, if I was going to win. I needed about 10 seconds on them, but I couldn't manage." Johns, with Simon Lessing, has been selected for the Olympics by virtue of his No. 3 world ranking. Lessing was absent from Stein, instead racing the ITU World Cup in Toronto, also Saturday. The third British Olympic position was determined by the results here, and the British Triathlon Association will make an announcement on Sunday. Tim Don, who finished sixth, and won the other British qualifier at Windsor on June 18, is expected to be nominated by the BTA. "I hope I've done enough," Don said. "Top five would have gotten me the slot for sure. But I hope sixth is good enough." (RESULTS) ------ Belgium's Smet surprises at Europeans July 8, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Kathleen Smet confirmed her starting place at the Sydney Olympics by winning the women's title at the Essent European Championships Triathlon 2000 -- when Belgian selectors told her she only had to finish top-12. "I had no idea I could do this," said a thrilled Smet, who had finished just 23rd in the ITU World Championships in April. Smet beat Switzerland's Magali Messmer, the race favorite and the runner-up in Europeans last year, by 34 seconds. The women's field of 50 raced in cool, overcast conditions. Rain during some of the bike portion made for tricky handling and, ultimately, only 30 finishers. Notable non-finishers include Germany's two Olympic-bound triathletes, Anja Dittmer (the 1999 European champion) and Joelle Franzmann. Third was Great Britain's Julie Dibens, another surprise on the podium. Her top-5 finish grants her automatic selection for the Olympics, pending the British Olympic Association's approval. Smet's only other major title came in 1998, when she won the World University Games Triathlon. She has raced in the shadow of the better-known Mieke Suys, already confirmed for the Olympics with her No. 14 world ranking. Smet is ranked No. 46. Her results picked up after the Perth Worlds when she won the Dutch race at Zundert, and took second in the Dutch race at Neunen last month. Smet, Messmer and Dibens were an early breakaway group on the bike. Smet separated from Messmer on the run, with three kilometers to go. "She was just faster than me today," Messmer said. "I wasn't as prepared for this race as she was." Few had thought that Dibens would pull out a top-5 finish ahead of the other Brits vying for the third and final Olympic slot, particularly Michelle Dillon and the 18-year-old Anneliese Heard. Dibens, formerly Julie Ricketts, said gaining the Olympic slot made for her second-best day this year, after getting married in May. "I knew I'd have a chance if I got away from the group on the bike," Dibens said. "But I've been injured and only last week, I was thinking of not even coming here. I was playing mind games. Making the Olympics now is out of this world." (RESULTS) ----- Carlsbad gets 2001 European Triathlon Champs July 7, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): The Carlsbad Triathlon, one of the Czech Republic's foremost and forward-thinking races, was named as the venue for the 2001 European Triathlon Championships. The announcement was made at the ETU Congress, although the exact 2001 weekend has not been confirmed. This year's race, one of the ETU Cup events, is July 29. Said Didier Lehenaff, ETU president: "We had other interested races, but came to the conclusion that only Carlsbad was able to stage the championship for 2001, provided the last details we have to go through are respected by the organizing committee." The first weekend of July has been the ETU's traditional choice for its triathlon championships, but was moved to the second weekend this year because of Euro 2000, the all-Europe football championship, dominating sponsors and television during the first week. The 2001 race in Carlsbad would again abandon the first weeekend in July, because the Carlsbad Film Festival is committed to the the first two weeks in July. The ETU schedulers are well aware that the ITU World Championships are scheduled for July 21-22. The ETU will stage the championships either late June or at the end of July. The Carlsbad Triathlon had its roots in 1994 when it was called the Iron Curtain Triathlon. It became an ETU Prestige Race in 1997, and an ETU Cup event last year. It pays prize money of 16,000 Euros. A spa town of 55,000 residents, Carlsbad is located 150 kilometers west of Prague. It is next to Pilsen, known as the home of the same-named brewery. The Olympic-distance course involves a three-lap swim in Rolava Lake, a 7-loop cycle through the town centre, and a three-lap run, also through town. In other championship news, the ETU Congress has awarded the 2002 European Duathlon Championships to Zeitz, Germany, pending final details. Discussions for the 2001 Duathlon Championships are still underway with various bidding organizers. ------ ETU is now "powered by Kjerag.com" July 7, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Kjerag.com, a Brussels-based Internet company, is the European Triathlon Union's newest partner in moving forward with website technology. Kjerag's Raymond Dulieu made a presentation to the ETU Congress, showing how a revamped website, will be more useful for athletes and federations than previously. The renewed website, which will be unveiled in September, will be displayed initially in four languages - English, French, German and Dutch. Content will be European-oriented, obviously, and covering a wider range of areas than the current site. Switzerland's Philippe Martin, who developed the current site, will continue to work on the new site as the ETU webmaster. Federations and race directors will be able to post their details and announcements virtually immediately as news and results occur. The site will also feature the new, updated ETU logo, which was unveiled at the Congress for the first time. Kjerag.com also maintains its own website, which will formally debut in August as a multi-sports site presented in 11 languages. ------ Moldova is newest European member July 7, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): The Moldavian Triathlon Association was accepted as the European Triathlon Union's 39th member at the annual ETU Congress alongside the Essent European Championships Triathlon 2000. Alexandr Barciuc, the federation's president, said the organization was established four months ago, with the paperwork filed with its national Olympic committee. The triathlon federation is closely aligned with Moldavia's cycling and modern pentathlon federations, as Barciuc is also the cycling federation's general secretary. "We are very young, only four months," Barciuc said. "But we have some schools in our country to develop cycling and swimming, and I hope the bases of these schools will help develop triathlon as well. We have some very good cyclists in our country. "We have a difficult economic situation in our country, and that touches sports, too. But we have good hopes for the future." There are still seven European countries which are members of the International Triathlon Union, but not the ETU. These include the newest ITU member, Scotland. The identification of Scotland as an ITU member -- as listed on the ITU's website -- drew the ire of British Triathlon Association chair Mick English. He wasn't aware -- or pleased -- that the ITU had actually allowed membership of Scotland, without informing the BTA. ------ Europeans gather for European Champs July 4, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Now that football fever -- Euro 2000 -- has subsided in the Netherlands, triathlon takes over with the European Triathlon Championships from Thursday through Sunday, not far from the Belgian and German borders. The juniors race on Friday, and the men and women elites race Saturday. The men also go through sprint-distance qualifying heats on Thursday, which qualify 50 for the Olympic-distance final. In all, more than 350 triathletes from 30 countries will be racing in the various Championships. Another 300 more are taking part in the Open Age-Groupers Race on Saturday morning. The Championships, more than one year in the planning, will involve as many as 750 volunteers on race day. The planning board has seven individuals, and 50 more in charge of various areas. Police are expecting between 50,000 and 100,000 spectators on the Saturday. The Essent Triathlon Stadium, with 3000 free seats, allows those there to watch the action on a 27-square-meter video screen. For those elsewhere, the race will be conveyed in live coverage on the Internet website. ------ European Champs starting fields announced June 29, 2000, Stein, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): The fields for the European Triathlon Championships, with racing from July 7-9, have been drawn, including the two men's qualifying heats. The elite men will race twice. The sprint-distance heats on the Thursday will send 25 men each on to Saturday's final, which is the traditional Olympic distance. The elite women race only once, on Saturday, over the Olympic distance. The lists for the heats were determined by country and alphabetically. It starts with Switzerland, the country of the defending champion (Reto Hug), followed by the host country (Netherlands), followed by all other countries in alpha order. Athletes were further listed alphabetically within their countries, and the 1-2-1-2-etc. separation ensured that a country with two athletes has representation in each of the heats. The full list of competitors, including age-groupers and maters, may be found on the Championships' official website. Thursday: Men's Qualifying Heat 1 (sprint distance) - Switzerland: Reto Hug, Didier Brocard, Andreas Guetter, Marcus Keller - Netherlands: Rob Barel, Erik van der Linden, Raymond Lotz, Ralph Zeetsen - Austria: Daniel Hechenblaickner, Gerald Horvath - Belgium: Rutger Beke, Marc Herremans, Axel Zeebroek - Croatia: Maurizio Nislic, Mirko Tisljar - Czech Republic: Martin Krnavek, Rene Milichovsky - Denmark: Rasmus Henning - Spain: Raul Cordoba, Hector Llanos, Jose Merchan - Estonia: Marko Albert - Finland: Jarno Hast, Arto Lindholm - France: Driss Benhammou, Sylvain Dodet, Cyrille Mazure - Great Britain: Richard Allen, Tim Don, Andrew Johns - Germany: Dirk Bockel, Andreas Raelert, Christian Weimer - Greece: Vassilas Krommidas - Hungary: Peter Hobor, Egon Szilagyi - Italy: Gianpietro De Faveri, Davide Marasa - Latvia: Dimitry Smirnov - Norway: Eyvind Kartvelt - Poland: Michal Siejakowski - Portugal: Jose Coutinho - Russia: Fedor Filippov - Slovenia: Grega Hocevar - Slovakia: Filip Kristl - Sweden: Jonas Djurback - Ukraine: Andriy Glushenko - Yugoslavia: Nenad Sudarov Thursday: Men's Qualifying Heat 2 (sprint distance) - Switzerland: Jean Christophe Guinchard, Peter Alder, Dominic Burren, Michael Schwarz - Netherlands: Andre Laven, Dennis Looze, Huib Rost - Austria: Norbert Domnik, Bernhard Hiebl, Andreas Koefer - Belgium: Yves Coura, Frederik van Lierde - Croatia: Nikola Boric, Dejan Patrcevic - Czech Republic: Michal Danek, Martin Matula, Filip Ospaly - Spain: Asier Bilbaa, Eneko Llanos, Xabier Llobet, Ivan Rana - Estonia: Hardi Randma - Finland: Petteri Kosonen, Marko Tormanen - France: Frank Bignet, Anthony Flochlay, Samuel Pierreclaud - Great Britain: Craig Ball, Marc Jenkins, Richard Stannard - Germany: Maik Petzold, Daniel Unger - Greece: Nikolaos Athanasopoulos - Hungary: Andras Heczey, Csaba Kuttor - Israel: Shay Pifman - Italy: Fabrizio Ferraresi, Davide Morelli - Norway: Erik Johnsen - Poland: Bogomir Gluszkowski - Portugal: Miguel Casimiro, Luis Santos - Russia: Yuri Klioukhin - Slovenia: Erih Pecnik - Slovakia: Andrej Orlicky - Turkey: Hasan Özer - Ukraine: Volodimyr Polikarpenko - Bulgaria: Boris Tanev Saturday: Women's Olympic-Distance Final Only - Germany: Anja Dittmer, Joelle Franzmann, Anja Heil, Barbara Kossner, Christiane Pilz - Netherlands: Lucienne Groenendijk, Wieke Hoogzaad, Ingrid van Lubek, Silvia Pepels, Jenette Tolkoek-Van Dalen - Austraia: Eva Bramboeck, Jasmine Haemmerle - Belgium: Kathleen Smet, Mieke Suys, Heidi Veramme - Czech Republic: Renata Berkova, Michaela Novakova, Lenka Radova, Lucie Zelenkova - Denmark: Lisbeth Kristensen, Marie Overbye - Spain: Maribel lanco, Ana Burgos, Pilar Hidalgo - Finland: Katja Pakarinen, Sari Rairama - France: Cornelia Bourgadel, Nathalie Daumas, Sophie Delemer, Delphine Pelletier, Delphine Py - Great Britain: Sian Brice, Julie Dibens, Michelle Dillon, Annie Emmerson, Heather Williams - Hungary: Nora Edocseny, Erika Molnar - Italy: Nadia Cortassa, Manuela Ianesi - Luxembourg: Nancy Kemp-Arendt - Poland: Ewa Dederko - Russia: Anna Ivanova - Switzerland: Simone Buerli, Sibylle Matter, Brigitte McMahon, Magali Messmer - Ukraine: Tamara Kozulina ----- Van der Linden wins Nuenen as Gaag is DQ'ed June 27, 2000, Nuenen, Netherlands (www.slowtwitch.com): Netherlands' Eric Van Der Linden, confirmed last week as a Dutch Olympian, won the Triathlon Nuenen for the second straight year. But Kazakstan's Dimitry Gaag, who would have been its runner-up, lost his second-place result with a controversial disqualification. The race on Sunday was an ITU Points Race that finished with four laps of the run through Nuenen's town centre. Kathleen Smet, of Belgian, took the women's title over Czech newcomer Lucie Zelenkova. According to Wim van den Broek (mailto:w.broek@wxs.nl), who was announcing the race, the men came off their bikes as a pack of 16. In the first run lap of four, Mikhail Kuznetsov stepped on the heels of his countryman Gaag, causing the 1999 world champion to lose his shoe. Gaag continued with just one shoe, but shouted to Kuznetsov to go back and pick up the lost shoe. Kuznetsow did what he was asked for, tried to catch Dimitri up but naturally did not succeed. When he saw the national coach from Kazakhstan, he threw Gaag's shoe to him. The coach then ran to another point of the run-course where the head of the field (Eric van der Linden, Troy McKinna and Gaag) had just made a turning-point in the course. There the coach threw the disputed shoe to Gaag. He put it on and continued the chase on Van der Linden. "The whole action was in front of many spectators, the Dutch race-marshall and me as race-announcer," van den Broek said. "It's quite logical that I informed the people what happened at these moments." After the race, the two Australian triathletes, Troy McKinna and Chippy Slater, filed a protest. ITU-official Carsten Ditlefsen looked in his ITU-manual and couldn't decide anything else but to disqualify the angry Gaag. He had received outside assistance, Ditlefsen said, adding that if Gaag himself had picked up his shoe after the turning point at the place where he had lost it, he only would have run for about 1 kilometre without it. Gaag had initially finished 16 seconds behind van der Linden. He said that he would protest to the ITU's executive board over the DQ. (RESULTS) ------ Rob Barel: Olympic triathlon will be his last
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