2XU Brisbane Performance Centre

ITU BG Triathlon World Cup FELICITY ABRAM SECURES FOURTH WORLD CUP PODIUM OF 2008 SEASON IN TISZAUJVAROS, HUNGARY Date:: 14-Jul-08 Author:: Anna Wallin Source:: Triathlon Australia Australia’s Felicity Abram has won silver at the ninth round of the ITU World Cup series in Hungary, Tiszaujvaros, celebrating her fourth ITU world cup podium of the 2008 season.

In one of the oldest running world cups on the circuit it was triathlon veteran Andrea Whitcombe of Great Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2005. Whitcombe’s time of 2 hours 2 minutes and 48 seconds bested her closest rival Felicity Abram of Australia by 46 seconds in the hot and dry conditions. Beijing-bound Mariana Ohata of Brazil rounded out the podium in third a further 33 seconds back.

“It was a really hot day out there today and to be honest I really struggled in some parts but just made myself keep going, at the moment it is all about consistency,” said Abram from Hungary.

“After last weekend’s second, I was happy at how I managed to back up again, especially with such different conditions, last weekend it was pouring with rain and this weekend we had extremely hot temperatures.

“Once again this season is it all about racing, I just want to keep my ranking up and gain more experience,” said Abram.

From the starter’s horn, Sarah Groff of the U.S. took an early lead in the swim, exiting the water with local Margit Vanek of Hungary 23 seconds ahead of a group of four including Abram, Ohata, Whitcombe and Helle Frederiksen of Denmark.

After going out on her own for the first six kilometres Groff was eventually caught by the chase pack of four which managed to put a strong lead of two minutes on their chasers by the end of the first of seven short and technical laps through town. By the end of the forty kilometre bike leg, the lead had grown to almost four minutes leaving no doubt the medallists would come from this front group.

As temperatures continued to rise, the women hit the 10-kilometre flat and fast run course through the centre of town. As with the swim and bike Groff led out early in the run but was quickly passed by a charging Whitcombe and Abram. With recent personal best performances, early on it looked as though Abram would get her first world cup win. This was not the case however as Whitcombe stormed away after the first of four laps to lead out on her own, putting time into her chasers on each lap.

ITU racing will continue next weekend with the series heading to Kitzbuhel, Austria for the final world cup before the 2008 Olympic Games. Abram will back up for a third weekend in a row intending to continue her world cup podium streak and will be joined by Australian Olympic team member, Erin Densham.

2008 Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup

Elite Women - Official Results - 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run

ITU BG Triathlon World Cup FELICITY ABRAM SECURES HER THIRD WORLD CUP MEDAL IN HAMBURG OVERNIGHT. Date:: 7-Jul-08 Author:: Anna Wallin Source:: Triathlon Australia Australia’s Felicity Abram has secured silver overnight at the eighth round of the ITU World Cup Series in Hamburg, her third world cup medal of 2008. Abram followed Germany’s Ricarda Lisk across the line with New Zealand’s Debbie Tanner rounding out the podium. Surprisingly, Vanessa Fernandes pulled out early in the run and failed to finish, putting her status as Olympic gold medal favourite in question.

“I didn’t have any expectations today, I just wanted to have a solid race as I was disappointed with my racing the other week in Des Moines and wanted to prove a point to myself,” said Abram.

“I am not going to Beijing this year and while it is disappointing you just have to work through the disappointment and show some consistency, hopefully in four years time I will make the team.

“The rain made racing a bit tricky today and I was lucky I didn’t come down in the ride, especially with the downpour.

“I am backing up again next weekend in Hungary and then the following weekend in Austria, I want to do as much racing as I can and keep my ITU ranking up as high as I can,” said Abram.

Warm water temperature resulted in a non-wetsuit swim in Hamburg, the site of last year’s world championships, with most of the big names and all three medalists exiting the water in the lead group together.

Out onto the technical 40-kilometre bike course, the lead pack was made up of 11 women including Fernandes, Lisk, Abram and Tanner, along with Anja Dittmer, Swiss Magali Di Marco and Frenchwoman Jessica Harrison, all of whom are Beijing bound. What began as a 50-second lead managed to swell to more than 2:30 when the women came off the bike.

As the leaders began the run leg, all eyes were on Fernandes expecting her to pull away from the field. She ran at the front with Lisk but struggled and soon dropped back to sixth place after three kilometres. Just before the halfway mark, Fernandes retired from the race.

Lisk opened up an 8-second lead on Abram and as she took the bell lap, she was up by 23 seconds. Lisk crossed the line with a time of 01.57. 42 to comfortably win her first world cup title, completing a weekend German sweep with Beijing team mate Daniel Unger winning the men’s elite race the day before.

Abram took silver ahead of Tanner in a time of 01:58:10 with bronze medalist, Tanner crossing the line in 01:58:25.

All eyes will now turn to Tiszaujvaros in Hungary next weekend (July 13) when Australian’s Felicity Abram, Brad Kahlefeldt and Brendan Sexton will continue racing in the ITU World Cup Series.

Emma and Fliss were both looking for a great race today and they achived it - with both girls getting on the Podium. Emma, Fliss and Lisa Nordon ran away from the field - and eventually Emma procued a kick to clear away from Lisa and Flis in the last few minutes of the race. A great result - and good luck to both girls who are going for Olympic Selection.

Felicity will now go on and race her third World Cup in as many weekends - and hope to have another solid performance in the Ishigaki World Cup.

PROJECT 10 - SPEED SKATER KRYSIA CHILD - UTILIZING OUR 2XU COMPRESSION AND FITNESS RANGE

Take a look at this great action photo of one of the next up and coming Short Track Speed Skaters of Australia! 22 Year old Krysia Child is part a small select group of female athletes selected to train in a squad focsusing on the Women's Relay team for the Winter Olympics 2010. Krysia is also vying for individual selection in both the 500 and 1000m Short Track events in Vancouver. To help maximise recovery and for general comfort and wear, Krysia uses garments from the compression and fitness 2XU range. In this photo. Krysia is wearing the full length compression tights and a womens fitness hoodie.

Last week we were lucky to catch up with Renata Bucher, one of our European based 2XU Sponsored athetes. Renata is currently out here for our summer - training with Nick Croft's Noosa based triathlon squad. She is training for MTB Worldcups in Germany, Spain and Belgium in the hope of making the Olympic Team and recently won the Female Division of Race 3 of the Tre-X series based here in Brisbane. Renata is a great ambassador for 2XU in Switzerland/Europe and enjoys racing and training in all of 2XU range. We wish Renata all the best for the 2008 season and hopefully we will see her in Bejing! For more info on Renata see her web page www.renatabucher.ch.vu

2XU Performance Centre Brisbane Launch - Well, our Southbank store is officially open with our launch on Friday 20th April going off with a bang! Special guests including Alan Jones and Clyde Davenport helped the Brisbane 2xu Crew celebrate the store opening. A fabulous parade of all our new winter items, plus our normal range was co-ordinated cleverly by Kimberley Gardner. The parade included professional models and some of our sponsored athletes. Red's Players Caleb Brown, Lloyd Johannson and our very own 2XU part owners Fliss and Geoff Abram also made a guest appearance on the catwalk. With lots of athletes in attendance and a hearty supply of great food and champagne we all managed to enjoy ourselves thoroughly! Take a look at some of the great photos of the night!

NOVA 106.9 ATHLETE OF THE MONTH - Another important event for the month of April was the Inaugural "2XU " Athlete of the Month - with this month's recipient being local lad Matt Boyd. Matt is a Pole Vaulter with a personal best of 5.15 and has his sights set on Beijing and beyond. Matt comes from a very athletic family, with both parents Commonwealth Games Gold Medallists and Olympic Games members. Sisters Alanna and Jacinta are both QAS athletes as well -competing in Pole Vault and Long jump respectively. Luttsy from NOVA 106.9 was on hand at the shop to interview him and name him athlete of the month. Matt wins a $250 gift voucher to spend at our 2XU Brisbane Performance centre.

ON-LINE - Probably the biggest news for the month of APRIL was the launch of our web site ..... www.2xuqld.com.au ..... and the online shop Please check it all out and send your order through - or give us a call on 3018 0470 if you need further info. Please note shop hours 8.30am - 6pm Monday to Friday, 9am- 4.30 Saturday and 10am - 3pm Sunday.

WINTER GEAR - is now in stock! Fabulous jackets and vests for running and biking to take the chill away from those early mornings. Arm and Leg Warmers, socks, Fleeces and great Hoodies - all part on the new winter lines in stock now.

LOCAL NEWS - Geoff Abram (part owner and sponsored athlete) got his first Qld Cap for coming off the bench against the Stormers in Cape Town S.A. Congratulations Geoff - many more to come we hope! Geoff's twin, Fliss - has been busy recovering from foot surgery and is back in hard training for World Cups in Madrid and the US. Fliss has just been named in her third consecutive Elite Team for World Champs in Hamburg in September. We wish her well in her recovery and training.