Truemors
woo hoo!.. she knew the course!! smart gal!! :)
Victory stroll takes a turn for Snowsill
Nicole Jeffery
September 12, 2006
AMID the chaos at the end of the Los Angeles Triathlon, not even triple world champion Emma Snowsill knew if she had won or lost.
She crossed the finish line second but was eventually declared the winner after it was confirmed that half the women's field had unintentionally skipped a 5kilometre section of the 40km cycle course.
Snowsill, 25, was so far in front by then that none of the chasing pack saw her make a crucial turn, and continue down Hollywood Boulevard.
The boulevard of dreams then became a nightmare for officials and athletes alike.
By the time Snowsill returned to Los Angeles' most famous street she was four minutes behind the leaders and unsure whether she or they had taken a wrong turn.
"I figured something had happened because that was an out-and-back section and I hadn't seen anyone at all behind me," she said.
"I thought maybe I had gone the wrong way, but then the lead car came up to me and told me what had happened and that the girls were now in front of me."
Despite the information, Snowsill was still unsure of her position and set off in chase of those ahead, catching all but British former world champion Leanda Cave before the finish line.
She finished 11 seconds behind Cave, after running a phenomenal 10km in 33min36sec.
"I didn't want to relax and take anything for granted, so I still tried to take the win," Snowsill said. "I nearly got Leanda at the end, I tried to get her, it was good motivation for me."
It is a measure of the tiny Australian's superiority (she won a record third world title in Lausanne last week), that she was able to run down a high-class international field from a four-minute deficit.
Her next assignment will be the Beijing World Cup race on September 24, a scouting trip with a view to the 2008 Olympic Games.
Athens Olympian Greg Bennett led an Australian medal sweep in a trouble-free men's race in Los Angeles.
He won in 1hr47min12sec, from Craig Alexander (1:48.26) and Stephen Hackett (1:49.44).
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