Donnelly wants to make amends
Gold medalist has had her biggest success and most bitter disappointment in Canada

BEVERLEY SMITH
Sports Reporter

Toronto -- Sharon Donnelly knows what it's like to hit the high point of her triathlon career in her home country. But she also knows what it's like to skid to the lowest point faster than you can say "wet suit."

Donnelly, of Kingston, won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg last summer. By that time, she was the only woman in Canada to have met all the qualifications for the Olympic Games.

But more than a month later, she finished only 22nd at the world triathlon championships in Montreal after falling behind during the swim, normally her strongest event.

The 32-year-old athlete had won her Pan Am gold with an injured shoulder that caused her excruciating pain during the 1.5-kilometre swim. When she arrived at the world championships, she hadn't trained enough to challenge a much tougher field that included Australians.

"If that world championships was anywhere else in the world, I wouldn't have gone," she said. "I knew that I wasn't physically fit or mentally, because I knew I wasn't swimming fit.

"But because it was in Canada, I felt I owed it to the triathletes, and my family. It was tough. They were all there watching me and there wasn't much I could do."

Tomorrow, Donnelly will get a chance to make amends on her home turf by competing in a World Cup triathlon, the first to be held in Toronto.

"It's the first World Cup I've been able to drive to," she said with a laugh. The next one is in Tokyo.

Donnelly says her shoulder has improved like "night and day" from last year. She's undergone treatment for the shoulder and worked on some rehabilitative exercises all winter to bring it back to top shape.

She suffered a setback in April when she contested a World Cup event over the Sydney Olympic course. She finished 29th after struggling in the water and then crashing her bike when a slight drizzle turned the cycling and running routes into a sticky gumbo.

The crash aggravated Donnelly's shoulder injury.

"But I'm back swimming strong again," she said yesterday. "I'm a lot better in the water."

Now, Donnelly, a motivational speaker on the side, says she often talks about her struggles at the world championships. Her shoulder wasn't bothering her, but because she took off almost all of August to recover, she wasn't in top shape.

It wasn't her best moment in triathlon. During the event, she said she almost quit.

"When I found myself so far back in the swim, it was tough just to keep going," she said.

Perhaps she should have skipped the event and ended her season; the disappointment of the race probably hobbled her psychologically, she said. However, she uses the Montreal race as an example that athletes don't always win. There are tough days.

"But often I learn more from my poor races. When I win, I just sort of float. It was one of those races where I wanted to quit so bad, but I wasn't going to."

In Toronto tomorrow, Donnelly will face a small field of elite women, including Michellie Jones of Australia, ranked No. 1 in the world; Loretta Harrop of Australia, the 1999 world champion; and Emma Carney of Australia, a two-time world champion. The U.S. Olympic team will also be here.

Also in the field is world silver medalist Carol Montgomery of North Vancouver, the highest-ranked Canadian triathlete in the world (No. 13).

Most of the women at the Toronto World Cup will be competing in Sydney. Many are at different points of their training, said Donnelly, who says she hasn't tapered for this race.

"I was training very hard right up until Sunday," she said.

Donnelly expects U.S. triathlete Sheila Taormina to be first out of the water. After all, she won a gold medal in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta in the swimming event. She swam the third leg and helped set an Olympic record.

Donnelly was a competitive swimmer too, who just missed qualifying for the 1984 Olympics.

Taormina isn't as strong on the cycling section, so she can be expected to hold back in the swim or the first part of the cycling section, which is 40 kilometres, nine laps around the Molson Indy racecourse.

Jones could be another early surprise.

"Her swim has really improved over the last number of months," Donnelly said.

Jennifer Guttierez of the United States will be an early contender, too.

But for the final leg, the 10-kilometre run, look out for Montgomery, who has also qualified for the distance.

Reprinted with permission

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