Team USA Claims Six Sprint World Titles in Rainy Beijing

Team USA Claims Six Sprint World Titles in Rainy Beijing

USA Triathlon

September 10, 2011 (Beijing, China) – Team USA continued its strong run in Beijing with six world titles and 10 total medals at Saturday’s ITU Sprint Age Group World Championships.

Taylor Fogg (16-19, Colorado Springs, Colo.), Alycia Hill (20-24, Tacoma, Wash.), Carlos Dolabella (50-54, Key Biscayne, Fla.), Gayla Chambers (70-74, Georgetown, Texas), Marshall Wakat (70-74, Charleston, S.C.) and L. Waldo Leggett (75-79 Houston, Texas) earned gold for the U.S. on the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike, 5-kilometer run course.

“I think I won the race on the swim. I kept believing the whole season that I had to work on my strongest parts to open a gap and see what would happen,” said Dolabella, who clocked an age-group best 11:15 swim split en route to a time of 1 hour, 9 minutes, 30 seconds. “I’ve been doing triathlons for 30 years, raced professionally in the Eighties for 10 years, and I always thought about being world champion in something – and here it is at 50 years old.”

Earning silver for the U.S. were Tracy DiSabato-Aust (50-54, Sunbury, Ohio) and Patrick McCreary (60-64, Alton, Ill.), while Sara Cannon (40-44, Portland, Ore.) and Philip Friedman (55-59, Erie, Pa.) claimed bronze.

The soggy weather may have been a negative for some athletes, but Jeremy Oury (Hamilton, Mont.) relished the conditions. “It was great for me. I love it. It evens it out,” said Oury, who was fifth in the 45-49 age group. “When it gets tough there’s a lot of people that kind of buckle, and I train in this stuff all the time.”

A vocal group of U.S. supporters also battled the early morning elements to cheer on friends and family. “Instead of hearing people cheering my name or my college – Central Florida – I heard people saying ‘go USA’ and that was a pretty unbeatable feeling,” said Courtney Wagner, who was seventh in the 25-29 age group.

“It was a lot of fun being out there and seeing the competitors from all over the world,” she added.

2011 ITU Age Group Sprint World Championships

750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Female 16-19

1. Taylor Fogg (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:12:37

Female 20-24

1. Alycia Hill (Tacoma, Wash.), 1:10:42

Female 40-44

3. Sara Cannon (Portland, Ore.), 1:18:44

Female 50-54

2. Tracy DiSabato-Aust (Sunbury, Ohio), 1:24:07

Male 50-54

1. Carlos Dolabella (Key Biscayne, Fla.), 1:09:30

Male 55-59

3. Philip Friedman (Erie, Pa.), 1:14:19

Male 60-64

2. Patrick McCreary (Alton, Ill.), 1:24:46

Female 70-74

1. Gayla Chambers (Georgetown, Texas), 1:58:29

Male 70-74

1. Marshall Wakat (Charleston, S.C.), 1:33:00

Male 75-79

1. L. Waldo Leggett (Houston, Texas), 2:05:02