Issue ID: December 2012
Britain's Non Stanford has won the U23 world title at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Auckland. She beat Holland's Sarissa De Vries in an exciting head to head race to the finish.
London 2012 Olympian, Lucy Hall, led out the swim and Stanford worked hard after the exiting the water to ride up to the lead group and she took control of the race from there. She was frequently in the lead on the bike and immediately took up the lead with De Vries on the run.
The pair ran together for 9km before Stanford, who is from Swansea and trains in Leeds, pushed the pace and claimed the world title.
She said: "It was a quality field out there with really strong runners. I struggled on the first few laps of the bike but I managed to ride up to the lead group.
"I got on the run and kept my head down and eventually broke free.
"It was the dream scenario, but never has one of my race plans gone to plan! For it to actually go right for once is absolutely unbelievable. It happened on the right day!"
Lucy Hall finished 8th and Lois Rosindale 21st.
Hall said: “The swim was pretty nice, not as choppy as we’d expected. We knew the bike course was going to be tough. There was a group of 12 of us until the run, which was hard!
“It’s great to see Non come away with the win, I’m really happy for her. I’m happy with my race considering I’ve only done a few months of run training since the Games.”
Results, women U23:
1. Non Stanford GBR 2:13:06
2. Sarissa De Vries NED 2:13:15
3. Joanna Brown CAN 2:14:12
8. Lucy Hall GBR 2:15:11
21. Lois Rosindale GBR 2:18:05
