On Sunday, over 3,000 athletes took part in the 9th Annual Nautica New York City Triathlon. The event is the only Olympic-distance triathlon in New York and offers $30,000 in prize money. The event included a 1,500 meter swim in the Hudson River, a 40 kilometer bike ride along Henry Hudson parkway and, of course, the 10k run Central Park.
This race has grown drastically since its inaugural when 683 people signed up.
“This triathlon began as part of New York City’s 2012 Olympic bid effort and has grown beyond our wildest imaginations,” said John Korff, the race’s organizer. “The sport of …read more

Sheila Taormina, 39, from Livonia, Michigan is the first female athlete to qualify for three Olympic sports, but her choices have required her to perfect nine different sports activities. Amazing!
Taormina won Gold in 1996 as part of the women’s 4×200m freestyle relay. She then competed in the 2000 and 2004 Games as a tri-athlete (cycling, running, and open-water swimming), finishing sixth in 2000 and 23rd in 2004.
Taormina switched to the Modern Pentathlon in 2005 (shooting, fencing, pool-swimming, horse-riding, and cross-country running) and won the senior women’s division at the 2005 Pan American Championships.

It’s not a common practice here in Light the Torch but I thought I’d share some of the things — from rowing to sailing, triathlon to skiing —that’s online right now.
A SINGLE-MINDED PURSUIT OF GLORY
Irish Rowing team to compete in opening World Cup regatta
ISAF World Sailing Rankings
FIS releases 2007-08 sport calendars
Triathlete Robertson to return in Madrid
It’s all about the athletes and the sports in World Cups, World Championships and, of course, the Olympic Games.

Nine months after his previous World Cup race, Tim Don returns to the circuit this weekend a relieved world champion. There is nothing so precious as that which is taken away and until last week the Briton was banned for life from future Olympics. But there was more than just the Games riding on Don’s appeal for reinstatement.
(Source)
Tim Don, is a British triathlete, who won title in the World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland last September 2006. He also competed in the past two Olympics, 2000 Sydney Games and 2004 Athens Games.
However, a few weeks later, Don was banned for life …read more

AUSTRIA – Athens Triathlon Olympic gold medalist Kate Allen of Austria has announced she has her sights set for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to try and defend her gold medal. Allen, who has been absent from the world cup circuit since early 2005 choosing to focus on long-distance events, confirmed she will race the 2007 and 2008 BG Triathlon World Cup series in an attempt to qualify for the Beijing Games.
[RunnersWeb.com]
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! I’d like everyone to know I’ll be blogging about the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing! Er, but you know already know that, right?
I was just …read more

A while back, I featured the teenage triathlete, Flora Duffy, and highlighted the competitions in her current itinerary on her way to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Apparently, she’s done well in the last major event she competed in, the World Cup Triathlon, which was held in Germany that recently concluded. She didn’t fare badly, I hear.
Young Flora Duffy pulled off another sensational result over the weekend – finishing ninth in the Hamburg World Cup Triathlon to yet again underline her status as a budding superstar of the sport.
Full article
This is a performance a week after claiming the …read more

Here’s the other young triathlete that I came across tonight. Portugal’s Vanessa Fernandes is currently ranked at #1 in Triathlon mainly due to her perfect World Cup record wins at Aqaba, Madrid, Mazatlan and Corner Brook. Her WC wins started late 2004 in Madrid. In 2005, she added more wins under her belt in Mazatlan, Madrid, Beijing and New Plymouth.
Moving towards the Olympics in Beijing, Fernandes‘ credentials aren’t all that bad actually. See for yourself:
World Cup 2003 in Rio – placed 3rd
Olympian at 18 – placed 8th
World Championship 2004 in Madeira, Portugal – placed 5th
World Championship 2005 in Gamagori – …read more

An 18-year old triathlete from Bermuda, Flora Duffy, is one of the teenage athletes I’ve heard of whose dream is to compete in the Olympics. Her words, “Getting to China for the Olympics is my goal,” explains her busy schedule.
Here’s a quick list of the things she has on her “to do” list:
Commonwealth Games in Melbourne — placed 8th
Junior London Triathlon — gold
World Triathlon Championships [Junior Elite Division] in Switzerland – ongoing
World Cup event at Hamburg, Germany — next weekend
Pan American Games 2007 in Brazil — next year [obviously. hehehe]
And if things go her way, these “preparations” will help her …read more

Britain has produced a few of the international elite in the sport of Triathlon.
To name a few, during the 1990s, world champions like Simon Lessing and Spencer Smith gave the country something to be proud of. While Olympians like 2003 Salford champion, Andrew Johns, and last year’s leading Briton, Tim Don, both competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics when the sport made its debut. Stuart Hayes was a runner-up in 2004.
Newcomers Will Clarke and Olly Freeman have been performing really well. They took the gold and silver medals in the last European Under-23 Championships. Clarke aims to dominate in …read more

In the upcoming Summer Olympics, we can expect the following disciplines:

Aquatics
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe / kayak
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Softball
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling