at the races:gold coast
Golden on The Gold coasT
T
eam USA hauled in 22 gold medals in early September at the
ITU World Championship in Gold Coast, Australia. Between
the Olympic, sprint, aquathlon and Paratriathlon races, the
392 athletes of Team USA won 54 medals overall.
Among the many highlights was Team USA’s success in the
Paratriathlon World Championship, where athletes won six of the
11 gold medals awarded.
For full articles, results and photo galleries, visit
usatriathlon.org.
See below for race-day reactions from members of Team USA.
“It’s unreal to come here and compete against the world’s
best. I’ve been telling people I’ve been wanting to compete
for the red, white and blue since I was a kid. I just thought it
would be in soccer but I started triathlon last year and just
stayed focused.” — Mark Abdou, M20-24 competitor
“It’s been a while coming. I haven’t had the best last couple
years – haven’t had my mojo really and after the first year you
think you’ll snap out of it and after the second year you start
to wonder if you still have it. I just wasn’t expecting this. My
family is far and away my biggest support and my mom is the
one who got me here emotionally and when I’ve been really
down she’s the one telling me that I still have it.” — JJ Bailey,
gold medal M35-39, Olympic distance race
“I’m only 15, so this is my first race at this level. It’s a great
opportunity. The start of the swim was crazy and a couple girls
pushed me back but the experience really helped me for the
future.” — Jennifer Howland, junior athlete
“It’s all about smiling. It hurt really bad but I just kept
smiling through the pain and I used the crowd. I’m a very
emotional and passionate racer – I race from the heart. When
you’re on the world stage, you have to enjoy it. You can’t make
it stressful.” — Aaron Scheidies, gold medal, Paratriathlon
“The paratriathlon community is pretty close-knit. We’ve
all come a long way and have had to overcome things. We all
know how hard it is and we all take it really seriously. We just
want to get this sport to the next level – the Paralympics – and
get more golds for Team USA.” — JP Theberge, gold medal,
Paratriathlon
“It’s an absolute blessing to compete on the world stage
with so many incredible athletes from all over the world.
There’s absolutely nothing like it – that’s for sure.” — Steph
Popelar, Team USA
photo courtesy of Jayme Ramson / USA Triathlon
USATTriwinter10pgs102-129.indd 107 12/9/09 4:15:35 PM
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