National Team Member Places 25th on 2008 Olympic Course
USA Triathlon
September 10, 2011 (Beijing, China) – USA Triathlon National Team member Matt Chrabot placed 25th Saturday at the Grand Final of the 2011 International Triathlon Union World Championship Series to pace the U.S. elite contingent.
Chrabot (Colorado Springs, Colo.) notched a time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, 27 seconds on the Olympic-distance course to record the top showing by an American male at the Grand Final for the second straight year. He placed 16th in Budapest a year ago. Mark Fretta (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was 46th in 1:52:44.
Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain broke the tape in 1:48:06 to earn the win in Saturday’s event, as well as the overall WCS title with 4,285 points. Sven Riederer of Switzerland was second, followed by Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee.
Chrabot and Fretta both made the lead pack out of the water and were aggressive throughout the 40-kilometer bike, pushing the pace despite wet road conditions following morning showers in Beijing. No one made a significant break throughout the bike, and a pack of 40-plus athletes hit T2 together.
Chrabot battled for a top-20 finish for much of the 10k before ultimately placing 25th. “I had a little injury that kept me off from running for two weeks in June and July, but I’m starting to come back,” said Chrabot, who won the Chicago Triathlon on Aug. 28 in his last outing. “Chicago gave me some confidence and it kept me on top of my game in the U.S., but as far as staying on top of my game on the world level it’s just that much harder.”
Next up for Chrabot is the rescheduled Yokohama ITU World Championship Series event on Sept. 19, which will count toward the 2012 WCS rankings. He will travel to Japan to train in advance of the event.
Laura Bennett (Boulder, Colo.), Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.) and Jillian Petersen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will race in Sunday’s women’s ITU Grand Final at 1:30 a.m. Eastern. A live webcast of the race will be available from ITU at triathlonlive.tv.
The seven-race WCS is a key proving ground for the United States’ top triathletes aiming for a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team. In addition to racing for WCS points, athletes also will be looking to earn points toward securing a spot for their country at the 2012 Olympic Triathlon in London.
Beijing Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series Grand Final
1,500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run
Men
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR), 1:48:06
2. Sven Riederer (SUI), 1:48:14
3. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), 1:48:16
25. Matt Chrabot (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:50:27
46. Mark Fretta (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:52:44
DNF Jarrod Shoemaker (Maynard, Mass.)
