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EMMA Moffatt and her partner Brad Kahlefeldt are Australia's first two triathlon selection nominations for the London Olympics.

Triathlon Australia have announced Moffatt, a two-time world champion, and Kahlefeldt have been nominated for their Australian team at next year's Games.

The Australian Olympic Committee will confirm the team of up to three men and three women in June.

Triathlon Australia's Olympic program had a tough year and there is growing pressure ahead of London.

Moffatt won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics behind compatriot and gold medallist Emma Snowsill, who has struggled for form and fitness over the last couple of years.

Moffatt also won the 2009 and 2010 world titles.

Emma Jackson was fourth in this year's world championship series and Moffatt was seventh.

But selectors said Moffatt had recorded more consistent results.

"Emma ... has been the most consistent top 10 female performer during the selection period to date," said chair of selectors Michelle Gallen.

Kahlefeldt has been Australia's best-performed male in the world championship series.

He finished 16th at the Beijing Games and this year won the Hamburg round of the series.

Kahlefeldt was the top Australian in this year's championship series, finishing 10th overall.

Hamburg, Germany (16 July 2011) - Australian Brad Kahlefeldt got his 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship season back on track in the best possible style, claiming his first ever series win in a thrilling sprint finish in Hamburg.

 

Kahlefeldt just managed to hold off Great Britain's  William Clarke  and France's David Hauss, powering away from both in the final 50 metres in one of the most interesting series races so far this season.

Photo: Delly Carr / ITU

 

Without series leader Alistair Brownlee (GBR) in the field, there was plenty of cat and mouse games being played throughout the bike as several pairs tried to breakaway, but in the end a huge group of about 50 athletes hit T2 together, setting up a showdown on the 10km run. Just before halfway, a breakaway group of eight turned into six as Kahlefeldt, Clarke, Hauss, Javier Gomez (ESP), Joao Silva (POR) and Sebastian Rank (GER) started to build an unbeatable lead. Then with three kilometres to go, reigning Hamburg champion, Gomez tried to turn on his signature burn. But it wasn't effective this time as Kahlefeldt and Clarke stuck right to his heels. Then with one kilometre to go, Kahlefeldt, Hauss and Clarke went for it. The excitement continued to the final few steps, as until the last 50 metres it looked like Clarke had the win, before Kahlefeldt found that other gear he's employed so successfully in the past to burst through the tape. It was a blistering run, with the first four all breaking the 30-minute barrier and the top 13 finishing within a minute of Kahlefeldt.

 

It marked a big step in the Australian's season, after initially getting off to a great start to the 2011 season with a World Cup win in Mooloolaba, last year's overall bronze medallist didn't finish in Sydney and finished 51st in Madrid. But after a fifth place in Kitzbühel, and a period of sustained success in Hamburg, he said he wasn't settling for second this time.

 

"I've been to Hamburg many times, I think its my ninth time here - it's showing my age - but I got my first podium here in 2003 with a sprint finish between Andrew Johns and Bevan Docherty, so that was my first podium ever in a World Cup," Kahlefeldt said. 

 

"Then I think what was it after that, I think 2004 it was a top five finish and 2005 I think I was up there again, then 2006 another podium, 2007 another podium, 2009 another podium. So I've been very very close to winning many times but I just couldn't get the win, so I was thinking about that today and then on the final lap I knew I just finally had to try and get this win in. Because it's my favourite race on the circuit and I'm just very, very happy."

 

Kahlefeldt became just the seventh man to win a round of the Dextro Energy Triathlon Series since it was introduced as the new ITU World Championship series in 2009. It was also the first series podium, male or female, for an Australian triathlete in 2011.

 

It was also a huge breakthrough day for Clarke - with his first Dextro Energy Triathlon Series podium. His previous best was the fourth place he claimed in Kitzbühel just last month.

 

"I rounded that corner and I saw the finish line and I was like, just give 100 per cent now and I think I sacrificed myself a little bit early," Clarke said. "But I'm still absolutely delighted to get second, to be honest it's a bit more than I thought, I'm just over the moon I've been dreaming about this for a long time."

 

Hauss said his strategy had paid off, particulary after the wetsuit swim - which was confirmed after the water temperature was measured at 19 degrees - had initially put him back.

 

"I made a really bad swim with the wetsuit, but I keep going and I tried to push so that I was in control during the race and then after the bike I was in pretty confident with my run," he said. "So I wait for a chance in the race and then in the last bit I tried to break away and, I'm really really happy as I haven't got good results in my last races." 

 

The result also changes the top of the Dextro Energy Triathlon Series leaderboard at the halfway mark. Gomez's eventual sixth place was enough for him to take the lead from Alistair Brownlee - who didn't race in Hamburg - but the podium finishes really paid off for Clarke and Hauss, who moved up to second and third respectively. Gomez now has 2026 points, just ahead of Clarke at 1935 and Hauss at 1905. Sven Riederer (SUI) is in fourth overall and Alexander Brukhankov (RUS) in fifth. Kahlefeldt moved up seven places, to ninth, thanks to his win.

 

In other notable results, Chris McCormack (AUS) finished 26th in his second ITU comeback race. McCormack led the second chase pack as it aimed to bridge a 24 second intitial gap, and eventually did, and then crossed the line 26th place. It proved to be another unlucky day for reigning Olympic champion Jan Frodeno, who hasn't yet been able to win the race in his home town. Frodeno was at the front from the swim, before a problem with his bike in the final lap and eventually finished 43rd.

 

Hamburg marks the halfway point of the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series, with London, Lausanne and the Beijing Grand Final to come.

 

Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Hamburg - July 16, 2011           

Final Results - Elite Men - Official - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run                                                                                   

Gold - Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) - 1:44:08                                                                            

Silver - William Clarke (GBR) - 1:44:09                                                                 

Bronze - David Hauss (FRA) - 1:44:09                                                                                

4th - Sebastian Rank (GER) - 1:44:12                                                                                     

5th - Joao Silva (POR) - 1:44:16                                                                                    

6th - Javier Gomez (ESP) - 1:44:19                                                                                     

7th - Tim Don (GBR) - 1:44:33                                                                               

8th - Reto Hug (SUI) - 1:44:35                                                                                   

9th - Jonathan Zipf (GER) - 1:44:44                                                                                       

10th - Sven Riederer (SUI) - 1:44:56

After a long cold Canberra winter, stepping off the plane in Brisbane to a sunny 20 degree day (at 7am) was a dream come true. The rest of the weekend seemed to follow in this pleasantly surprising manner.

I had mates racing in the Crit and the Bolt on Saturday afternoon so they were made all the more enjoyable to watch. After a later than planned night on Saturday it was the usual early start Sunday morning and the race was well and truly here.

Having a less than ideal preparation in the month leading up, which included a nasty stack on the bike that left me out of the pool for a few weeks and being my first open race I went into the race thinking I was going to get well and truly pumped.

As soon as the horn went, there was no more time for excuses and I forgot about my own expectations and got on with it. The swim went surprisingly well. I didn’t quite make the first pack out of the water but I managed to keep them in sight and got out of the water only 100m down.

Onto the bike and I was at the front of the second pack. Unfortunately, the bike leg was particularly uninteresting with the group staying together for the full 40km, and not making or losing any time to the guys up the road. I did have the pleasure of flying along on my new TT bike all decked out with my new Marchissio Wheels (more about those engineering marvels later). That thing flew along, but despite a few efforts up the hill there was very little change in the group from start to finish.

After jumping off my bike first from the second group I came out of transition having lost about 10 places. As soon as I started running I was expecting to reel them straight back in with my favoured run leg, but the exact opposite happened. The first 2km of the run were possibly the most uncomfortable I’ve had, and this was only made worse having to watch a whole group run away from me (that was a new experience). After about 2k’s I came good and started reeling in the guys up the road. It took about 8k’s to catch everyone from my group on the bike but I did it and caught a number of the people from the front pack in the process.

Coming across the line I had no idea where I had finished. When I found out I finished 7^th in the open wave (and 30^th overall) I couldn’t have been happier. Definitely a far cry from the dire predictions I had made prior to the race! 

With my main focus turning to draft legal racing before Christmas it’s time get some (or a lot) of swim work done. Coming up I’m going to Melbourne to race the first of the Gatorade Series in St Kilda and then my focus will turn to the NSW Pro Tour. Hope to have some more good news after those races. 

Country: Australia

Athlete Year of Birth: 27/7/79

Athlete Place of Birth: temora

Athlete Sponsors: Giant Bikes, Asics, Professional Investment Services,Oakley, Mavic, Skins

Athlete Coach: Chris Lang

Triathlete Tribe: Brad first of all thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You had a great start to the year taking out the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup event. It must have been a great confidence booster winning the first major event of 2010?

Brad:Yes it was great to win Mooloolaba. It is always nice wining Mooloolaba World Cup. It is a great weekend of triathlon on a tough course and always nice to win on home soil.

Triathlete Tribe: You had a rock solid performance in Seoul where you finished 3^rd. Let us know your thoughts on the race?

Brad: Yes Seoul was a fast race. The field was quite strong. The bike was very technical which made for an exciting race. I just missed the jump by Courtney and Frodo out of transition, they set off at a very fast pace. Unfortunately I couldn’t run up to the two guys. I held on for 3^rd which was a solid performance.

Triathlete Tribe: You finished the 2009 season 7^h in the World overall. What were the highs and lows of this season and what are your goals for the 2010 season?

Brad: I had a good start to the season in 09. But unfortunately coming into transition in London after the bike I put my foot through a competitors rear wheel  and sliced it open. This set me back and I had to have surgery over in London. I had to have 3-4 weeks of no training before Gold Coast finale which wasn’t ideal. So it wasn’t the best end to my season.

Triathlete Tribe: What did it mean to you to take out the 2006 Commonwealth Game Gold in Melbourne? Is it a major goal of yours to repeat in Delhi this year?

Brad: To win in Melbourne was great. To have all the Aussies cheering you on along the course was great. Unfortunately they couldn’t find anywhere to swim in Delhi so there is no triathlon this time around.

Triathlete Tribe: Can you give us an idea of a typical training week for yourself in terms of swim, bike, and run (km’s)?

Brad: Roughly

Swim28k,bike 350k,run70-100k

Triathlete Tribe: Favourite Movie? Anchorman

Brad: Anchorman

Triathlete Tribe: Favourite Food?

Brad: Pancakes with icecream,Maple syrup

Triathlete Tribe: Brad, We wish you all the best this season.

Many thanks