2008 Olympic Triathlon Gold Medalist Jan Frodeno

2008 Olympic Triathlon Gold Medalist Jan Frodeno

Jan Frodeno had a stellar run to sprint past the cream of the field at the line in an exciting olympic triathlon finish.  The main action of the race fell to the run. Only two breakaway riders were able to escape with a gap of 50 seconds at transition.  The small lead the riders had was quickly eaten up by a hard charging field who bridged to them within the first half lap. The field narrowed throughout the four lap run leaving only four as they enter the stadium for the finish.  A resurgent Simon Whitfield of Canada took silver with Bevan Docherty of New Zealand hanging on for bronze.  ITU number one ranked Francisco Gomez of Spain was out kicked at the final turn and ended up fourth. USA’s Hunter Kemper had a fine race finishing 7th, 55 seconds off the pace. American’s Jarrod Shoemaker finished 17th 1:53 back and Matt Reed finished 31st 3:37 back.

Like many ITU races, the swim was the warmup to the race.  The top 30 finishers all finished within 50 seconds.  Hunter Kemper of the US was near the front as was Gomez, Belaubre, Sysoev and Prochnow. The field cleared T1 and headed out on the bike 40+ strong. The group stayed together with only a few attempts from riders to clear, none of any consequence until lap four. On the hill of lap four, Serrano attacked and got clear with Zeebroek quickly bridging. The two worked together to extend a few seconds of lead to 20 seconds by the top of the hill. Dirk Bockel of Luxembourg successfully bridged on the descent catching on before the stadium.  The three worked together to extend the lead to 33 seconds at by the end of lap four.  The chase group was reluctant to pursue in ernest allowing the gap to increase to 55 seconds as the breakaway riders entered the stadium for the last time.  Zeebroek and Bockel were able to gap Serrano on the final hill of the ride. The two slapped hands as they entered the stadium and prepared for the run.  Serrano was in no mans land till T2, losing 45 seconds on the leaders.  The feild closed in on him as they came into transition. 

On the run, the entire field started out almost together. By the time they exited the stadium, the field had strung out in to a group of twenty followed by a thinning line of the remaining runners. At the close of the first lap, the field had captured the leaders and narrowed to about twelve including Gomez, Rana, Whitfield, Brownlee, Docherty, Frodeno, Kemper and a few others. By the close of lap three, the lead group had been whittled down to six. Brownlee and Rana dropped off at the beginning of lap four leaving only Gomez, Whitfield, Docherty and Frodeno, as they neared the stadium for the final time. The leaders dropped Whitfield as they entered the stadium though he was able to latch back on as the three leaders slowed to prepare for the sprint. It was Whitfield who jumped just prior to the final turn dropping Gomez in the process. Frodeno was able to hold on but Docherty fell off halfway to the line. Jan Frodeno had the legs to get by Whitfield to take the win.

Men’s Triathon Results

Rk Name Total Time Time Diff Swim Trans. 1 Bike Trans. 2 Run
(1.5 km) (40 km) (10 km)
Time Rk Time Rk Time Time Rk Time Rk
1 FRODENO Jan GER  1:48:53.28  00:00.0 18:14 16 0:26 2 59:01:00 0:26 1 30:46:00 1
2 WHITFIELD Simon CAN  1:48:58.47  +0:05.19 18:18 22 0:27 13 58:56:00 0:29 18 30:48:00 2
3 DOCHERTY Bevan NZL  1:49:05.59  +0:12.31 18:23 31 0:28 25 58:51:00 0:26 1 30:57:00 3
4 GOMEZ Francisco Javier ESP  1:49:13.92  +0:20.64 18:08 8 0:27 13 59:06:00 0:29 18 31:03:00 4
5 RANA Ivan ESP  1:49:22.03  +0:28.75 18:22 29 0:26 2 58:52:00 0:28 10 31:14:00 5
6 UNGER Daniel GER  1:49:43.78  +0:50.50 18:25 37 0:27 13 58:49:00 0:27 3 31:35:00 6
7 KEMPER Hunter USA  1:49:48.75  +0:55.47 18:04 4 0:30 46 59:06:00 0:28 10 31:40:00 7
8 HENNING Rasmus DEN  1:49:57.47  +1:04.19 18:18 21 0:26 2 58:57:00 0:28 10 31:48:00 9
9 SYSOEV Igor RUS  1:49:59.38  +1:06.10 18:02 2 0:32 53 59:15:00 0:29 18 31:41:00 8
10 BELAUBRE Frederic FRA  1:50:00.30  +1:07.02 18:03 3 0:28 25 59:11:00 0:30 32 31:48:00 10
11 ATKINSON Courtney AUS  1:50:10.02  +1:16.74 18:06 6 0:27 13 59:08:00 0:29 18 32:00:00 11
12 BROWNLEE Alistair GBR  1:50:19.62  +1:26.34 18:11 13 0:27 13 59:05:00 0:29 18 32:07:00 12
13 ZEEBROEK Axel BEL  1:50:30.90  +1:37.62 18:30 43 0:27 13 57:48:00 0:30 32 33:15:00 13
14 CLARKE Will GBR  1:50:32.07  +1:38.79 18:53 47 0:27 13 58:23:00 0:31 38 32:18:00 14
15 PROCHNOW Christian GER  1:50:33.90  +1:40.62 18:23 30 0:26 2 58:56:00 0:27 3 32:21:00 15
16 KAHLEFELDT Brad AUS  1:50:36.00  +1:42.72 18:17 19 0:29 34 58:56:00 0:28 10 32:26:00 16
17 SHOEMAKER Jarrod USA  1:50:46.39  +1:53.11 18:19 23 0:29 34 59:03:00 0:28 10 32:27:00 17
18 MARCEAU Olivier SUI  1:50:50.07  +1:56.79 18:55 52 0:29 34 58:18:00 0:31 38 32:37:00 18
19 OSPALY Filip CZE  1:50:53.69  +2:00.41 18:17 19 0:30 46 58:56:00 0:29 18 32:41:00 19
20 SAPUNOV Daniil KAZ  1:50:58.98  +2:05.70 18:11 12 0:29 34 59:05:00 0:31 38 32:42:00 20
21 POLYANSKIY Dmitriy RUS  1:51:11.61  +2:18.33 18:15 18 0:27 13 59:07:00 0:29 18 32:53:00 21
22 RIEDERER Sven SUI  1:51:19.45  +2:26.17 18:14 17 0:34 54 58:52:00 0:28 10 33:11:00 23
23 BRYUKHANKOV Alexander RUS  1:51:22.59  +2:29.31 18:10 11 0:30 46 59:08:00 0:33 45 33:01:00 22
24 BOCKEL Dirk LUX  1:51:31.01  +2:37.73 18:26 39 0:27 13 57:52:00 0:27 3 34:19:00 30
25 MOREIRA JUNIOR Juraci BRA  1:51:35.57  +2:42.29 18:24 34 0:29 34 58:50:00 0:30 32 33:22:00 24
26 CROES Peter BEL  1:51:40.94  +2:47.66 18:26 38 0:26 2 58:51:00 0:32 43 33:25:00 25
27 TICHELAAR Paul CAN  1:51:46.81  +2:53.53 18:24 35 0:27 13 58:51:00 0:30 32 33:34:00 26
28 HUG Reto SUI  1:52:04.93  +3:11.65 18:55 50 0:27 13 58:20:00 0:29 18 33:53:00 27
29 YAMAMOTO Ryosuke JPN  1:52:11.98  +3:18.70 18:27 40 0:26 2 58:53:00 0:29 18 33:56:00 28
30 BERK Sander NED  1:52:18.09  +3:24.81 18:13 15 0:28 25 59:06:00 0:34 49 33:57:00 29
31 REED Matty USA  1:52:30.44  +3:37.16 18:25 36 0:30 46 58:48:00 0:28 10 34:19:00 31

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