Canada’s Paula Findlay (25) took a giant step forward in rebuilding her form to that of elite as she grabbed a Silver Medal at the Elite Sprint PATCO Premium Cup Race in Kelowna, B.C. on Sunday.
This is her first race since March with a stress fracture and the competitor from Edmonton enjoyed a solid outing on the Kelowna sprint course, finishing as the only Canadian one the podium placing second with a time of 59 minutes 52 seconds.
She told the media “I’m just so happy to return to racing and be able to finish the race,” in addition to racking up five World Triathlon Series victories before prior to a hip injury.
This led her way to a frustrating Olympic debut in 2012 and this being followed by a series of injuries she has had to battle through, which have proven to be both mental and physical.
“I’m trying to work my way back up there. I know I have a lot of work to do. It just feels so good to be racing again. This (Kelowna) is my favourite place to race so I’m happy I was able to return here.”
With the stress fracture limiting Findlay to swim and bike training for the majority of the last year, the determined Canuck’s game plan was simple on Sunday.
“Coming into the race I knew I had to stick with Katie (Hursey). She is one of the strongest cyclists in the sport and I knew if I stuck with her it would be a good place to be,” said Findlay. “We opened a huge gap off the bike because we worked really well together. We were relentless. We were rotating and surging and motivated and it was a great bike.”
Findlay led the field out of the second transition where she tested her run fitness for the first time in a long time, only to be caught by Katie Hursey of the US a short one-kilometre into the five-kilometre run.
From here she never looked back and continued on to claim the Gold Medal pulling off a time of 59:36.
“I was really happy to have Paula there with me all day,” said Hursey. “We were extremely motivated and worked so well together. I love this course. I think it plays into my strength and it is very hard.”
Erin Dolan, also of the United States, rounded out the women’s podium in third spot at 1:01:22, while Victoria’s Alison Hooper was the next best Canadian in fifth spot with a time of 1:01:45.
The Canadians were shut out of the podium in the men’s sprint race. Victoria’s Andrew McCartney was in the medal mix through the swim and bike legs, but ran out of gas after charging onto the run course and dropped to fifth spot at 55:17 when all was said and done.
Tommy Zafares of the US nailed the Gold Medal with a time of 54:24 in his first trip to Canada.
Two Aussies grabbed the final two spots on the podium. Calvin Quirk locked up the silver medal at 55:00, while Daniel Coleman posted a bronze-medal time of 55:08.
Many of the best athletes on the planet will now head to Stockholm, Sweden for a World Triathlon Series race, August 23-24, before the world descends in Edmonton for the TransCanada Corp. World Triathlon Grand Final, August 26 to September 1.
Triathlon Canada is the governing body for triathlon in the country. Recognized as an Olympic medal sport since 2000 and Paralympic medal sport as of 2016, Triathlon Canada’s mandate is to promote, foster, organize and develop the sport of triathlon, and its related disciplines, in Canada.
Top-Five Women’s Results:
1. Katie Hursey, USA, 59:36;
2. Paula Findlay, Edmonton, CAN, 59:52;
3. Erin Dolan, USA, 1:01:22;
4. Summer Cook, USA, 1:01:35;
5. Alison Hooper, Victoria, CAN, 1:01:45.
Top-Five Men’s Results:
1. Tommy Zafares, USA, 54:24;
2. Calvin Quirk, AUS, 55:00;
3. Daniel Coleman, AUS, 55:08;
4. Eric Langerstrom, USA, 55:15;
5. Andrew McCartney, Victoria, CAN, 55:17
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