Olympic Gold Medalist Off to Second Games
Sheila Taormina, Olympic Gold Medalist (swimming Atlanta), clinched a birth in the Sydney Olympic Triathlon Saturday with a decisive victory in the US Olympic Team Trials in Dallas, Texas.
Emerging first from the 1.5 km swim, Taormina soon joined forces with pre-race favorite Barb Lindquist on the 40 km bike section and were able to extend the lead over the chase pack to almost 3 minutes as they started the 10 km run.
Meanwhile, the biggest challenger of all - the heat - started to take its toll on the field. Lindquist was the first of several to fall victim to it, as she dropped from the race on the second lap of the run.
Despite that, Joanna Zeiger, noted for her running ability ran her way from the second chase pack to within 45 seconds of Taormina at the finish-line. Her second place finish earned her the final Olympic birth for the American women.
Taormina and Zeiger clinched the remaining two Olympic spots of the 3 person US team, with Siri Lindley taking the alternate spot.
A small anecdote to describe the character of the veteran Olympian came from an official at one of the water stations who reported in a very surprised manner that Sheila Taormina had taken time to say "thank you" as she took a bottle of water from the official during the run.
Complete results will be posted as soon as they are available at the ITU Website. |
