American Hunter Kemper came back from longstanding hernia and a second bout with SI joint injuries to win his 4th World Cup and his first since the 2005 Beijing World Cup with a rousing win at Ishigaki Sunday.
Kemper, a three-time Olympian, two-time winner of Escape From Alcatraz, and winner of a silver medal (1999) and a gold (2003) at the Pan Am Games, blasted away from the field on the run and hit the line in 1:50:33 with an 18-seconds margin of victory over runner-up Artem Parienko of Russia and 20 seconds on 3rd place Marek Jaskolka of Poland.
Jaskolka's 3rd place finish constituted the first World Cup medal won by a Polish triathlete.
Kemper’s win was his first since his second at Escape From Alcatraz victory last June. Since then, Kemper had been recuperating from a second sacroiliac joint injury – the same one that nearly cost him a spot in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Kemper, although only 34 years of age, has been competing on the demanding ITU stage since 1998 and there had been some speculation that he could not return to his former high level that brought him the ITU World Cup points championship in 2005 as well as important wins at Life Time Fitness Minneapolis and several US Olympic Triathlon Trials.
Kemper said it felt good to be back on top, particularly after two seasons plagued by injury.
"I was second in 2006 to Courtney Atkinson, and as you know he does well on this course, but it felt good to finally come through with a victory," Kemper told ITU media.
"It's my second race of the year, and it feels good to win in Ishigaki. I've had injuries for the past two years--it's been very difficult since Beijing in 2008, and this is my first World Cup win in a while. So it feels good to be back on top of the podium, and win here in Ishigaki in front of the Japanese people, who have dealt with so much the past six weeks. It feels good to celebrate even if just for a few hours."
Kemper finished second at Ishigaki in 2005 and 2006 - both times to Atkinson, who was not racing this year in Ishigaki.
Jaskolka has been competing on the ITU World Cup circuit since 2003 and had reached the podium in European Cup and Pan American Cup events, but his best previous result at a World Cup had been seventh at at Tiszaujvaros in 2006, at Madrid in 2007 and at Tongyeong in 2008.
Jasolka competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games but failed to finish.
"Yeah, it's amazing," Jaskolka told ITU media. "After two years of sickness and injuries, I'm back. I'm really surprised that I got third here. It was such a strong field. Three weeks ago, I raced in Valparaiso for a Pan American Cup, and I applied the same strategy. I just stayed behind the other guys and waited for the last lap, because it's my strongest lap, and it worked out."
Parienko made the jump to the elite men from junior's in 2007, and since then has reached the podium at several European Cup events, but had never finished higher than 9th in a World Cup race.
The race started with a swim-bike breakaway by Denmark ITU elite rookie Jens Toft of Denmark and Ivan and Denis Vasiliev of Russia. The trio pulled out to a 43-seconds lead, but soon after the start of the 3-lap run, Kemper, Ivan Rana, Ivan Vasiliev and Jens Toft broke away. By Lap 2, Kemper had 15 seconds on the field and maintained that margin through a last lap.
By the end, the Vasiliev brothers felt the strain of their bike breakaway and faded out of the top 10 but Toft held on to 7th. Ivan Rana, who won this race a decade ago and took the 2002 ITU World Championship, finished 4th, with newcomer Joao Pereira of Portugal rounding out the top 5.
The race was also notable for the return to competition of 1999 ITU World Champion Dimitry Gaag of Kazakhstan, who was serving a two year ban for a positive drug test. Gaag finished 47th in 1:53:54.
Ishigaki ITU World Cup
Ishigaki, Japan
April 17, 2011
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Elite Men’s results
1. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:50:30
2. Artem Parienko (RUS) 1:50:48
3. Marek Jaskolka (POL) 1:50:50
4. Ivan Rana (ESP) 1:50:56
5. Joao Pereira (POR) 1:51:00
6. Ramon Ejeda Medina (ESP) 1:51:03
7. Jens Toft (DEN) 1:51:06
8. Ryan Fisher (AUS) 1:51:09
9. Jan Celustka (CZE) 1:51:13
10. Martin Van Barneveld (NZL) 1:51:16
15. Mark Fretta (USA) 1:51:43
27. Ben Collins (USA) 1:52:27
64. Nicholas Vandam (USA) 1:57:35
