TRIATHLON 2012 ยท SYDNEY
42
NEW YEAR, NEW FACES
A FIRST FOR JUSTUS AND A FIRST FOR AFRICA
Germany's Steffen Justus broke through for the biggest win of his ITU career, in an elite men's ITU
World Triathlon Series race that had twists and
turns at every corner in Sydney.
After a two-man breakaway on the bike leg stuck
coming into Transition 2, Russia's Ivan Vasiliev
dropped his breakaway partner, James Elvery of
New Zealand, in the first few hundred metres and
managed to stay out front on the run until the second last lap. It wasn't until the final 15 minutes that
the trio of Justus, South Africa's Richard Murray
and France's Laurent Vidal pulled ahead of the Russian. It set up a final lap showdown, but Justus didn't
look back after passing Vasiliev. rocketed to the
front and stayed there, to claim his first ITU World
Triathlon Series win and first major ITU title.
Murray shook off Vidal to claim his first ITU World
Triathlon Series medal and the first in history by an
African athlete. He said he had expected a podium in
his career, just maybe not so soon.
