Date:20/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/20/stories/2008082055872000.htm

Sport - Sports : General

Frodeno triumphs

Beijing: Germany’s Jan Frodeno sprinted down the final straight to claim a shock win after a thrilling Olympic Games men’s triathlon on Tuesday.

Frodeno, 27, passed Canada’s 2000 Olympic champion Simon Whitfield with just metres left, finishing in 1hr 48min 53sec.

Athens silver-medallist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand took bronze while there was heartbreak for hot favourite Javier Gomez, triathlon’s “Tiger Woods,” who was relegated to fourth.

“I think I slept about two hours last night,” Frodeno said. “I knew I had trained very well but these guys who were with me at the front were really the big guys.”

Nobody’s tip

The six-foot-three (1.94) Frodeno was nobody’s pre-race tip with a relatively modest record including 13 top-10 World Cup finishes and last year’s German national title.

But he put on a devastating burst of speed to run down Whitfield and leave Gomez and Docherty trailing. “I just tried to execute my own race. As Simon went I knew it was going to be tough, I just had to bite and fight,” Frodeno said.

“This year I’ve lost all my races on sprints. It teaches you a lesson and I’ve learned at the right time I guess.”