Suunto Athletes Podium at World Tri champs

Suunto athletes on podium at ITU World Championship Series Final in Gold Coast

ITU World Champs

Suunto ambassadors Javier Gomez (Spain) and Jan Frodeno (Germany) were both at the head of the action at the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series final on Australia’s Gold Coast, taking out second and third respectively behind young British sensation Alistair Brownlee.

Almost the entire field was together after the 1500m swim, and then despite four athletes breaking clear over the closing stages of the 40km cycle, all the major players were still closely packed heading into the final 10km run.

As they exited the second transition Gomez, Frodeno and Brownlee immediately distanced themselves from the bunch however, with Gomez in particular pushing the pace hard in an attempt to win his first WCS race of the season. Gomez’s efforts could be literally seen on the screen, thanks to the Suunto Comfort Belt that he and other Suunto ambassadors wore for each round of the series, which transmitted heart rate data on live TV feeds.

Although Frodeno began to drop off just before the five-kilometre mark, Gomez was unable to get rid of Brownlee, who eventually surged clear in the final kilometre to finish his perfect season in perfect style, winning his fifth consecutive WCS race in 1hr 44min 51sec. But whilst he was beaten into silver again, Gomez was still pleased with his race, particularly after an injury-interrupted preparation. “I am happy, today I put together my fastest run ever,” he said. “But Alistair has been the best man this season and I’ll have to come back next year.” Frodeno was also pleased to follow up his win in the previous WCS race in Yokohama with a bronze in the final.

The women’s race saw local favourite Emma Moffat continue her dominating season, with a hard fought victory over Sweden’s Lisa Norden in 1hr 59min 14secs. Behind them Suunto athlete Helen Jenkins had an outstanding race to claim the bronze medal, finishing less than thirty seconds behind Moffat.

All three athletes had been part of a seven-women breakaway that formed after the swim, and then worked well together to further extend their lead over the rest of the field throughout the cycle. Once running, Moffat and Norden were in a race of their own, but defending world champion Jenkins produced a perfectly paced run to move into third position on the final lap and take fifth in the overall rankings.

As well as being official timekeepers throughout the series, GPS technology, made possible by Suunto, provided live speed and distance data during the cycling and running sections making the races even more exciting to viewers at home.