Simon Whitfield showed that he is ready for another Olympic title with a very impressive win at the 2008 Ishigaki BG Triathlon World Cup. Emma Snowsill led the women’s race from start to finish and with it claimed her 8th Word Cup title
Very hot and humid weather greeted the 44 men as they started their swim in Ishigaki Harbor. Towards the end of the swim a small group led by local favorite Hirokatsu Tayama of Japan and containing Simon Whitfield, Rasmus Henning and Ivan Vasiliev emerged from the waters.
As they got on their bikes, this lead group worked very well together and by the time they reached T2 they had over a minute gap over the group that contained contenders Robertson and Don.
Once out on the relatively hilly run course, Whitfield started to take charge, followed closely by Henning and Vasiliev. The three of them ran together to the halfway point of the run, where Vasiliev finally dropped of the pace. Whitfield though would not be denied and he got away from Henning towards and crossed the line in first about 10 seconds ahead of Henning. Vasiliev managed to hold off the hard charging Robertson and Don for the final podium spot.
As the women started their swim, a small group containing only Emma Snowsill, Helen Tucker, Jodie Swallow and Kerry Lang emerged and these 4 managed to hold off all other swimmers.
At the start of the 40k bike leg a few more athletes joined them, and soon the group was up to just under 20 athletes. Missing in this group were pre race favorites Debbie Tanner and Anja Dittmer, and by the time they reached T2, they were almost 2 minutes behind.
After a brief struggle in T2, Snowsill charged to the front and was never really challenged as she earned her 16th career title. Erin Densham finished a strong second and seemingly got herself some brownie points with the Australian Olympic selection committee. 18-year old and reigning World Junior Champion Hollie Avil rounded out the podium in what was her first world cup.
2008 Ishigaki BG Triathlon World Cup
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite men
1. Simon Whitfield (CAN) 1:51:12
2. Rasmus Henning (DEN) 1:51:22
3. Ivan Vasiliev (RUS) 1:51:33
4. Peter Robertson (AUS) 1:51:39
5. Tim Don (GBR) 1:51:43
6. Reto Hug (SUI) 1:51:46
7. Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) 1:51:54
8. Simon Thompson (AUS) 1:52:00
9. Hirokatsu Tayama (JPN) 1:52:04
10. Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) 1:52:12
Elite women
1. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 2:03:11
2. Erin Densham (AUS) 2:03:40
3. Hollie Avil (GBR) 2:05:25
4. Juri Ide (JPN) 2:05:30
5. Kathy Tremblay (CAN) 2:05:57
6. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 2:06:05
7. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 2:06:20
8. Mariana Ohata (BRA) 2:06:30
9. Irina Abysova (RUS) 2:06:34
10. Lisa Huetthaler (AUT) 2:06:42
