Twelve British triathletes toed the line at last Sunday’s Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup on Australia’s Sunshine Coast as more than 150 elite triathletes from around the world battled it out for the first world cup title of 2008.

Tim Don kicked off his 2008 season on a positive note with a bronze medal. It was his first world cup race since breaking his arm in a bike crash at the Beijing Olympic Games test event last September. Don managed to finish just ahead of 2004 Olympic silver medalist Bevan Docherty for the final spot on the podium. Olly Freeman also had a solid performance in the season opener with a sixth place finish in a tough men's field. Stuart Hayes came across in 12th spot.

Don said: "It's great to be back on the podium at a world cup after breaking my elbow at my last outing in Beijing. Training has gone very well over the winter period and I feel really strong. I know there's more to come as well, so I'm looking forward to a good year."

Spaniard Javier Gomez avenged last year's loss to his Australian rival Brad Kahlefeldt. Gomez overcame a surprisingly poor start to take the seventh world cup title of his career. It was also the 14th straight world cup race he's made the podium.

Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup - Elite Men Final
Results1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Gold - JAVIER GOMEZ Spain 1:49:50
Silver - BRAD KAHLEFELDT Australia 1:50:14
Bronze - TIM DON Great Britain 1:50:23
6th - OLLY FREEMAN Great Britain 1:50:34
12th - STUART HAYES Great Britain 01:51:14
23rd - RICHARD STANNARD Great Britain 01:51:49
42nd - WILL CLARKE Great Britain 01:53:16
43rd - ALISTAIR BROWNLEE Great Britain 01:53:24

Andrea Whitcombe was the top Brit in the women's race finishing in fifth place. Corus Ambassador Helen Tucker was 13th while Liz Blatchford and Kerry Lang also broke the top 20. Vanessa Fernandes' bid for history was again derailed by her fiercest rival, three-time world champion Emma Snowsill. In the first head-to-head battle of 2008 Fernandes settled for silver as Snowsill ran away to gold.

Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup - Elite Women Final Results
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Gold - EMMA SNOWSILL Australia 2:00:44
Silver - VANESSA FERNANDES Portugal 2:01:22
Bronze - LISA NORDEN Sweden 2:02:07
5th - ANDREA WHITCOMBE Great Britain 2:02:45
13th - HELEN TUCKER Great Britain 2:04:07
17th - LIZ BLATCHFORD Great Britain 2:04:51
18th - KERRY LANG Great Britain 2:05:07
27th - JODIE SWALLOW Great Britain 2:06:35

Corus Ambassador Rosie Clarke also performed well at the weekend, winning both the Mekong River Race Aquathlon and Triathlon in Thailand.  The aquathlon was the ASTC Asian Champs.

For more information please contact:
Peter Holmes, British Triathlon Media Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1509 226188 / +44 (0)7795 415452
Email: peterholmes@britishtriathlon.org

For continued up to date profiles please go to
www.britishtriathlon.org/media

Live coverage of this weekend’s race will be available online at
www.triathlon.org <http://www.triathlon.org/>