Ackermann top ten in China

Simone Ackermann was the best of the New Zealand women at the Chengdu ITU World Cup in China on Saturday, finishing in 8th place after pushing with the leaders early in the run in testing conditions.

Ackermann has had an interrupted summer of training and racing as she overcame a hip and back complaint. With limited running miles under her belt, she was philosophical about the result.

“It is a definite improvement, I have really struggled the last two races, I blew to pieces on the last 5k of the run but the rest of it I am really happy with. I think it was important to be ‘in’ the race and be up front and competing, not just making up the numbers. That is a good thing to take out of this race, to be in contention.”

Ackermann believes she is on the right path though and knows that with a consistent and strong block of training, her run will improve as the year goes on.

“Definitely, in the past that has been my strength in the run, my endurance has been good and I have struggled over the first two and a half k where today it was the reverse. The pieces are coming together and that is a good sign for sure.”

It was an Aussie win with Gillian Backhouse (AUS) and proving too strong on the run to clear out in warm and muggy conditions to win by 29 seconds from Jessica Broderick (USA) with Claire Michel (BEL) in third place.

Unlike the men’s race, a smaller group of 15 riders established themselves out of the swim and gradually broke clear of the chasers, leading by almost 2 minutes into T2. That group quickly broke up on the run though, with Backhouse quick to hit the lead and scatter the chasers.

It was a first win for Backhouse and one that she was delighted with.

“In terms of career performances this is the absolute best for me by a mile. My previous best at an ITU World Cup was 15th. It is not a complete surprise though, training has been going really well over the past month, my coach and I were hoping for a top five but to win is just absolutely amazing.

“The conditions were pretty much perfect for us today. The smog has cleared up a bit today, when we first got here I was a bit worried but it is much much clearer today and great for competing.”

Backhouse is back to training for now but already thinking of opportunities later in the year.

“I am back to a block of training and then a crack at the U23 Duathlon Championships and hopefully a couple of WTS starts in the not too distant future.”


Anneke Jenkins finished 15th. Credit: Delly Carr/ITU


The other Kiwis in the race did not fare so well with Anneke Jenkins missing the lead group out of the water but running home in 15th place while Rebecca Clarke swam and rode with the lead group only to lose time on the run to finish 20th and Fiona Crombie was effectively out of the reckoning after a poor swim and finished 29th.

It was the Chinese athletes who had the crowd cheering early, dominating the swim and providing 4 of the 15 riders in the lead group, but once on to the run the local influence waned and the class of the more experienced international athletes shone through.

The event will go down as a rousing success though regardless of local athletes not challenging for the medals, with a massive crowd in attendance at the purpose built triathlon venue. Estimates had over 100,000 surrounding the park in Jintang, Chengdu, some getting their first experience of international triathlon and every one of them loving it.

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