Triathlon upsets build confidence for Canadians
Montgomery, Donnelly tune up for Olympics by finishing first, second against best in world

BEVERLEY SMITH
Sports Reporter

Toronto -- Canadian female triathletes are sporting a golden Olympic glow, especially after they delivered a thrashing to some of the world's best at a World Cup event.

Carol Montgomery of North Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto native Sharon Donnelly finished 1-2 after the 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre cycle and 10-kilometre run on Saturday, while Michellie Jones of Australia, ranked No. 1 in the world, ended up fourth.

Both Montgomery and Donnelly are Olympic-bound and will compete on the first day of the Sydney Games, the first time the triathlon will be included in the Olympics. And they may throw a kink into the best plans of the Australians who have dominated triathlon for the past decade. The top four women in the world are Australian.

"That's why they put [triathlon] in," Donnelly said. "They were hoping to have gold medals and set the whole Australian team off.

"But if we can do that, it would be awesome."

Donnelly, who turned in her best effort in a year on Saturday, said: I seriously don't think they're the best in the world any more. Maybe a couple of years ago, they were. But they've got a lot of competition in the world right now, both on the men and the women's side."

Montgomery, whose career has been dramatically resurrected in the past six months since she had major surgery to repair a blocked artery in her groin area, now feels she could finish within the top three in most races, "as long as I rest for it and I'm smart in my training."

Montgomery is still nursing her left leg and must take a couple of days off after a hard 10,000-metre run. And she wasn't at all confident about winning on Saturday, thinking she hadn't trained enough. She also suffered from a queasy stomach, felt tired and found that her fingers were so numb from swimming in the cold water at Ontario Place that she fumbled for a long time to attach her cycling helmet and get on her bike.

But Montgomery's 10-kilometre run was an amazing exercise in mental and physical strength. She coasted through the cycling phase. "I was trying not to do a whole lot of work on the bike because I didn't feel at all well," she said. "I had no expectations of doing well in the race, or even winning it."

When Montgomery jumped off the bike, she was far behind the three leaders. They were nowhere in sight. She ate up the ground like a race car. With one lap to go, she was in second place. Then she passed Donnelly, who had led the running phase throughout.

"I was pretty disgusted after the Pan Am Games last year," said Montgomery, who won the bronze medal in Winnipeg, while Donnelly won gold. "That was the first thing that went through my mind, 'Oh, good, I get to beat her in this big race.' This is probably as big a race for both of us [as the Pan American Games]. . . . I've never really won a big race in Canada."

Montgomery had her surgery late in December. She won the first World Cup triathlon event she contested in March and also qualified for the 10,000-metre event in the track program in Sydney.

Montgomery isn't as doubtful about a top Olympic effort as she was about her own chances on Saturday. "Canada has a good shot at a medal now, just like Australia."

Montgomery said she learned on Saturday how uplifting it was to run in front of a home crowd. The supporters, including her brother, were very motivating, she said. But the home advantage could work against the Canadians when they go to Sydney.

"I realize how much racing at home really helps you," Montgomery said. "I never really thought it did, but now I realize what kind of an advantage the Australians are going to have there. It's going to be tough. They're definitely the ones to beat."

In the men's event on Saturday, Simon Whitfield of Kingston finished fourth behind five-time world champion Simon Lessing of Britain. However, Whitfield defeated top-ranked Hamish Carter of New Zealand, fourth-ranked Greg Bennett of Australia and sixth-ranked Craig Watson of New Zealand.

During the run, Whitfield raced on Lessing's heels, then ran toe to toe with Dimitry Gaag of Kazakhstan, who won the 1999 world championship. Gaag ended up third, with Gilberto Gonzalez of Venezuela second. Whitfield couldn't keep up in the final lap.

"I went after it," said Whitfield, who is the top-ranked North American in the world, No. 21. "I tried to lead it out a little bit. I might have paid for that the second half. But that's all right. You've got to give yourself a shot at winning.

"I think the only way to beat Lessing is to keep surging at him. He's the king."

Lessing said he felt a bit rusty but believes he's on target for Sydney. The Toronto event was only his second race this season. He skipped the world championships in April to prepare for Sydney, then discovered a handful of events he had intended to contest were cancelled. He came to Toronto, needing a race.

"The general fitness is there," he said. "It just needs a little bit of sharpening up. That will come with a little more racing."

Carter, the top-ranked man in the world, finished 14th.

Isabelle Baird-Turcotte of Quebec City, who has also qualified for the Olympics, was 12th in the women's event.

As for Montgomery and Donnelly, their sights are set on Sydney. Donnelly is working at overcoming a distaste for racing in wetsuits, which the competitors will wear because the water in Sydney's harbour will be so cold that their muscles could cramp. Donnelly finds the suit constricting, but also feels it gives support to an old shoulder injury.

She's changed her swimming stroke to accommodate the wetsuit. And she's found a computer program that will allow her to simulate the hilly course the triathletes will encounter on the bike trail in Sydney.

They'll be ready. And now they're confident, too.

Reprinted with permission

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