MAGOG, Que.—Canada’s triathletes surged to a pair of silver medals at a series of triathlon races in Magog, Que. on Saturday.
Calgary’s Stefan Daniel got his season off to a silver-medal winning start in the men’s standing classification of the World Triathlon Para Cup race, while Liam Donnelly matched the result in the Americas Triathlon Cup.
The 28-year-old Daniel, a two-time Paralympic medallist came out of the water after the 750-metre swim with his top rivals and fought throughout the sneaky challenging 20-kilometre ride that featured two steady climbs before an out-and-back run in his first return to Magog in nearly a decade.
“It was great to be back racing in Magog again. I haven’t raced here since I was a junior and I have a lot of great memories from those races,” said Daniel, who clocked a time of 1:01:03. “Today was okay, but not the greatest. Being the first year after the Paralympics, I’m managing the amount of travel I do and being away from home racing. This year, it is all about building towards World Championships. I snuck in there for second today, and I hope to build on this for next week in Montreal.”
Chris Hammer, of the United States, took the gold medal with a time of 1:01:03. Australia’s David Bryant was third at 1:02:55.
Liam Donnelly, of Campbellville, Ont., was hungry to successfully defend his Magog title in the Americas Triathlon Cup men’s race but came up just shy in the dash to the finish line.
“The race was pretty good. I think for most Canadian triathletes, Magog is a second home for them. I think this is likely my seventh time coming here,” said Donnelly. “It’s always a great race. The spectators are cheering so loud for you.”
Donnelly fed off the home crowd, clocking a time of 55:32 in the sprint distance test.
“I had an okay swim, I had a bit of work to do on the bike and then a lot of the group started to come together, and I just tried to stay safe, and position myself well for the run,” said Donnelly. “When I got onto the run I tried to position myself as well as I could.”
Donnelly exercised his race tactics to near perfection until the final sprint to the finish line.
“I was just trying to play it right, and I guess I played my cards a bit too soon and got hawked down in the last 100 metres, but I’ll take a second place here. I really wanted to defend my title from last year, but that is racing. I gave it a go, and I can live with second place.”
Donnelly was sandwiched on the podium between two Americans.
Porter Middaugh edged the Canuck out at the line, taking the tape with a time of 55:31. Braxton Legg clocked-in at 55:42 for third place.
Daniel Damian (Victoria) was sixth at 55:52. Martin Sobey, of Charlottetown, was the only other Canadian male to finish in the top-10, placing ninth at 56:12.
Ontario’s Alexandra Campbell was the top Canadian in the women’s race, crossing the finish in seventh place with a time of 1:03:31. British Columbia’s Sidney Clement was ninth at 1:04:07.
Complete World Triathlon Para Cup Results
Complete Americas Triathlon Championship Results
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