ERIN DENSHAM MARCHING TOWARDS WORLD TRIATHLON TITLE

TRIATHLON, August 27, 2012: Australia’s 2012 Olympic triathlon bronze medallist and new ITU World Championship points leader Erin Densham has revealed how she forwent the Olympic Closing Ceremony in London to kick start her dream of becoming Australia’s ninth women’s world champion.

Densham said she fell ill almost straight after her Games success and eventually had no alternative but to reluctantly leave the Olympic Village.
 
The effects of a heavy cold limited her training to “one little session a day - two if I got really lucky” as she prepared for her return to ITU racing in Stockholm at the weekend.
 
“Coming into Stockholm I didn’t really know how I would fare. I got sick after London and didn’t really do much training while staying in the Olympic Village,” Densham said after her hard fought fifth placing in Saturday’s sprint round in the 1912 Olympic city.

 
“Basically all I did was one little session a day. Two if I got really lucky. But the most important thing was getting over the cold I had.
 
“So the rest I was getting in the Village was actually quite good.
 
“I missed the Closing Ceremony and flew back to my European home base in Vitoria (Basque Country) in a bid to get better and start some light training.
 
“And that’s what I did. I didn’t get to do any intensity training till the Tuesday before Stockholm. But that was ok as the most important thing was getting better.”
 
And as much as it hurt, Densham’s fifth placing sees her with almost a 500 point lead over Series front runners, New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt and Switzerland’s Olympic champion Nicola Spirig, who opted out of the Stockholm round.
 
Just three weeks after her stirring London bronze, Densham lined up with her fellow Olympians Emma Moffatt (24th) and Emma Jackson (33rd) in the short course race (750m swim; 20km bike; 5km run) around the picturesque Swedish city.
 
But it was Felicity Abram who was the second best of the Australians in 21st followed by Mofffat, Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (25th), Natalie Van Coevorden (31st) and Jackson.
 
So with Hewitt and Spirig not on the start line it allowed Densham to steal a march on the title race and with just two rounds remaining in Yokohama (September 22,23) and the Grand Final in Auckland (October 20,21) Densham sits on top of the Series with 3611 points ahead of Hewitt (3141) and Spirig (3109).
 
The race saw home town hero and Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden race away with the victory ahead of Dutch newcomer Maaike Caelers and Chile’s experienced Barbara Riveros Diaz in front of a large crowd that lined the streets, bridges and waterways to cheer on the competitors.
 
Densham was always in contention and was in the top three out of the water and off the bike but couldn’t maintain her momentum around the five kilometre run course, holding on well to finish fifth.
 
Struggling to draw breath after the race said she was delighted to be the new Series leader but admitted it was one of the toughest races she had ever experienced.
 
“Oh my God….that was so hard,” said Densham, who has chalked up wins in Sydney and Hamburg.
 
“It certainly was tough going out there today. You always have do the work for that kind of event and course.

“I had a good swim. It felt reasonably comfortable. From there it was just a massive hurt fest.
 
“I'm sure I've been able to go that hard and even harder before. But when that specific work hasn’t been done for a while, man it’s a whole new level of hurt.
 
“So I was very happy to finish with a fifth place. Even more delighted to find out that I am now leading the overall World Championship Series.
 
“It’s been a long year. But it’s not over yet. I plan on staying in Europe a little bit longer.
 
“Then it will be onto Yokohama and Auckland in a bid to grab the World Championship Series Title.”
 
If Densham can maintain the rage and triumph in Auckland she will join eight Australians who have won 13 ITU World Championships between them since Michellie Jones (1992, 1993) and then Emma Carney (1994, 1997), Jackie Gallagher (1996), Joanne King (1998), Loretta Harrop (1999), Nicole Hackett (2000), Emma Snowsill (2003, 2005, 2006), Emma Moffatt (2009, 2010).
 
Australian Performance Manager Michael Flynn was full of praise for Densham saying: “Erin was again super in Stockholm, displaying the skills and stamina that has put her in the elite class of the women in 2012 and she now sits as number one and deservedly so. It is great to see an Australian in the race for a Triathlon World Championships in the Olympic year.”
 
Meanwhile Great Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Jonathon Brownlee raced away with the men’s race ahead of Spain’s Olympic silver medallist Javier Gomez with rising young Frenchman Vincent Luis taking the bronze, while young Australian pair Dan Wilson and Aaron Royle, the new breed of Australian triathlon racing,  put together outstanding races to finish 10th and 11th respectively.
 
Other Australians in the field were Ryan Bailie (25th), Drew Box (45th) and Brendan Sexton (DNF).
 
Brownlee (3825) now leads the Series pointscore ahead of Russian Alexander Bryukhankov (3285) and Gomez (2905).
 
The Olympic bronze medallist behind his brother Alistair and Gomez then spearheaded the Brits (with Vicky Holland, Will Clark and Non Stanford) to a successful defence of their World Teams Championship on Sunday ahead of France and Russia with the Australian team of Densham, Wilson, Natalie Van Coevorden and Aaron Royle never in the hunt to finish 15th.