Most of you by now will now that Triathlon Canada named their 2008 Men's Olympic Team. In addition to Simon Whitfield (who qualified in 2007), Paul Tichelaar and Colin Jenkins earned the two discretionary spots. Originally, I assumed that Tich got his spot due to his 4 Top-10 finishes at World Cup events this year, but now it appears that I was mistaken. In the Edmonton Journal this week, Tichelaar admitted that Triathlon Canada has asked him to delay his medal dreams and instead act as a "domestique" for Simon Whitfield. He is not too thrilled about that, which you can understand since he has consistently been in contention throughout the 2008 season. As a Canadian Olympic fan, I'm a bit torn. Whitfield is the most consistent racer we have, with a chance to podium in every race he does, while Tich has really only proven that he can be a Top-10 contender. Should he be asked to sacrifice that potential top-10 in Beijing to help Simon win a medal? Interesting to follow going into Beijing...
Moving on to Bikey stuff, some surprisingly bad news out of the Pro Cycling World? Who would have guessed that Pro Cycling would have a scandal? Ok, i'm only sort of kidding, but one of cycling's golden boys is in trouble this week. Tom Boonen got caught using cocaine in a doping test, and is thus banned from the Tour de France. This is a huge deal in Belgium, in pro cycling, and for Team Quick Step. Boonen is their biggest star, and as a Green Jersey contender will be sorely missed this July in France. Here's hoping it gets sorted out and Boonen returns clean in the near future.
Good news for Canada and Perdita Felicien. While she may not be ready for Canada's Olympic Trials (July 4-6) due to a foot injury, she may get a medical exemption and still be eligible to compete in Beijing. She is obviously a huge medal contender (Silver Medal at Worlds last year) and this is great news for her. She would be the third high profile to be eligible for Olympics without going to Nationals, with Alex Despatie and Kyle Shewfelt having already been given Injury Exemptions this year.
gotta run...more later...
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