This deserves wayyyyy more credit than I've been giving it, but Edmonton's own Paula Findlay has gone from way off the radar a few short months ago to being the "it" athlete for Canadian triathlon in 2010.
She started 2010 as the #4 girl on the Canadian team behind 2008 Olympians Lauren Groves and Kathy Tremblay, and the once-wunderkid Kirsten Sweetland. Being only 21 and with a history of histories (knee and foot issues), Triathlon Canada has only let Findlay race let once in a full-field event (Des Moines ITU) and instead letting her tune up in secondary races (Mexico and Quebec races) before her breakthrough race in London.
Her win in London was the first race in 2010 where all the contenders toed the start line. Emma Snowsill, Emma Moffatt, Nicola Spirig, Lisa Norden, Barbara Riveros Diaz, Laura Bennett, and Helen Jenkins were just some of the ladies in the field who have multiple career wins or Olympic or World titles. But the young Canadian was not fazed, and used a race-best 33:51 run split (!) to win by 3 seconds over Spirig after breaking away from a group of 4 in the final mile. I love her quote "Running with a group of four is always hard, because there’s only three spots on the podium. At that point in the race I was just hoping for a podium spot. Then I looked back and saw I had a little gap and just ran my heart out."
Eight short days later, the ITU World Championship Series moved to Kitzbuhel, Austria. Although the back-back races means that some athletes won't be at 100%, Findlay again her used her superior run speed to speed away from Lisa Norden and Andrea Hewitt to win again by 3 seconds. Hewitt must be really be getting tired of Findlay, as she finished 7 seconds behind her in both London (finishing 4th) and Kitzbuhel (finishing 3rd).
So where does that leave us with one race to go in the series (September 12 in Budapest) to determine the 2010 world champion. Findlay's two wins in two races will not get her enough season points to finish #1 overall, but she is definitely going to be gunning for another win. Currently, the top 3 ladies are Emma Moffatt, Lisa Norden, and Andrea Hewitt (interestingly, those 3 finished in those spots at the end of the 2009 series) but there are a few other women who can claim the world title if they win and get some help.
Findlay is undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the ITU season, and she must be counting down the days til the London Olympics. The battle for the Canadian team could be a great battle in the next two seasons. Kathy Tremblay (not having a great year - only 75th in the rankings) and Lauren Groves (broken collarbone, been out for the season) both could still get back into top form in time to repeat their Olympic team experiences, along with Kirstin Sweetland, who despite having 2 career wins and only being 21 years old, has had trouble replicating the success she enjoyed in 2007 and 2008. But she has the run speed needed to compete for podium spots if she can get through the swim/bike in the front of the race. Add in 20 year-old Kyla Coates, who started in London before crashing out and breaking her collarbone, and Team Canada is looking great for 2012 and beyond!
One note of caution for Canadian fans - last year's version of Findlay was Alistair Brownlee, who absolutely dominated every race he started en route to winning the world title. This year, one win in three WCS events (he's only 17th overall, one spot ahead of Simon Whitfield) while the top two guys in the world are Jan Frodeno and Javier Gomez, who have both consistently finished in top 3 in most of their races.
Lots more to talk about - come back soon....
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