Ninth place for Laura in world event

LURGAN triathlete Laura Casey has just returned from Singapore where she competed in the World Youth Olympic Games.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Sep 2010, 11:28 BST
Updated 7th Sep 2010, 14:56 BST

Laura was the youngest of 32 athletes from around the world to line up for the sprint distance triathlon event on the beautiful beach of East Coast Park.

The race began with a running start for the 750m swim. Laura was 31 seconds behind the leader after the swim and was in a big leading cycling pack of 18 after the first lap of the 20k bike. She finished in the top seven of the bike leg.

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At the start of the run the America’s Adriana Barraza (MEX) tried to break away from the pack, creating a few seconds gap.

However Japan’s Yuko Sato, who has already completed five rounds of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series in elite level this year, produced the best performance of the day, finishing first by 14 seconds.

2009 Aquathon World Junior Champion Ellie Salthouse (AUS) finished second in a time of 1:01:04 followed by Kelly Whitley (USA) 1:01:13.

Laura ran her heart out to beat some of the best athletes in the world in the junior age group and finished in ninth position with a race time was 1:02:40 (+1min 51secs behind the winner). This top ten result was an outstanding achievement for the young Lurgan teenager.

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Her coach Elena Maslova believed that a top 15 finish was achievable before the race. Her strategy was to be within 30 seconds of the leading group at the first transition but she was overwhelmed by how Laura performed in the cycling and running components.

Laura said that it was the proudest day of her life.

Laura also competed in the Triathlon Team Relay event and produced an excellent performance to lift Team Europe 2 into fourth place.

Fifteen teams representing each Olympic continent competed in this new event. Her team of Mariene Gomez (Germany), Jeremy Obozil (France), and Lucas Kokar (Czc Republic) finished in a time of 1:22:11. It would have been bronze but for a puncture on the second leg with Obozil having to stop and repair.

It was a fantastic Triathlon competition for Laura, now a Youth Olympian, with an individual ninth place and fourth in the team event.

Related topics:USA