British Athletes Relish Season Finale

The final events of the ITU Triathlon World Cup Series will see British athletes travel extensively this month in pursuit of late season Olympic qualification points at events in Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and Turkey.

World number four, Helen Jenkins, will extend her season and race alongside husband, Marc, in Mexico this weekend. She will resume her close rivalry with Switzerland’s world number two, Nicola Spirig, whilst Marc will face the newly crowned World Champion, Javier Gomez.

Helen Jenkins commented: “It’s really the end of the season now and this weekend is about racing for enjoyment. It’s great that Nicola (Spirig) will be there. We’ve had some close battles this year and competing against an athlete of her calibre will always guarantee that it’s going to be a good race.

“It’s nice to be able to support Marc as well. He had a couple of top three finishes in Asian Cup events in July and could do well this weekend. Even though we are both triathletes, our schedules have been very different this year and we don’t get to see each other race very often, so this will be great for us, especially if we can both have good races.”

Scotland’s Kerry Lang will also compete followed her appearance at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU Triathlon World Championships Grand Final in Budapest last month.

Daniel Halksworth and Harry Wiltshire complete the British squad this weekend. Halksworth was a World Championship gold medallist in Budapest, where he won the elite Aquathlon event (swim-run).

Jodie Swallow and Katie Ingram will have an opportunity to challenge for top finishes at the Tongyeong ITU Triathlon World Cup in South Korea on 16 October. Both have already achieved podium finishes in World Cup events this year.

Ingram, who was recruited to triathlon from an elite running background through British Triathlon’s talent programme, trigold , has made an impressive start to her multisport career with 3rd at the Senec ITU Triathlon European Cup in May and 2nd at the Nancy ETU Duathlon European Championships in April.

Non Stanford completes the women’s squad in South Korea, and Marc Jenkins, Harry Wiltshire and Phil Wolfe line up in the men’s race.

Daniel Halksworth, Phil Wolfe, Harry Wiltshire and Non Stanford race the Hong Kong ITU Triathlon Asian Cup on 23 October and the final triathlon event of the season in Turkey on 24 October will feature a few athletes who have miss competition through injury, including Todd Leckie and Aaron Harris.

Leckie, a medical student in Eastbourne, broke both elbows on a training accident earlier this year and his international season has been limited to helping with medical provision at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship London presented by Tata Steel in Hyde Park in July.

Team Selections:

2010 Huatulco ITU Triathlon World Cup – 10 October (Mexico)
Men: Marc Jenkins, Harry Wiltshire, Daniel Halksworth
Women: Helen Jenkins, Kerry Lang

2010 Tongyeong ITU Triathlon World Cup – 16 October (South Korea)
Men: Phil Wolfe, Marc Jenkins, Harry Wiltshire
Women: Jodie Swallow, Katie Ingram, Non Stanford

2010 Hong Kong ITU Triathlon Asian Cup – 23 October
Men: Daniel Halksworth, Phil Wolfe, Harry Wiltshire
Women: Non Stanford

2010 Alanya ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup – 24 October (Turkey)
Men: Aaron Harris, Todd Leckie, Phil Wolfe, Oly Stanley, Nick Beer
Women: Katie Ingram, Vicki Wade