ITU World Champion Javier Gomez and Australian Ashleigh Gentle Win 2014 Beijing International Triathlon

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Coming off three major wins, and continuing to dominate the racing world of triathlon, current ITU World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain wins the 2014 Beijing International Triathlon, for the second year. Top female professional Ashleigh Gentle from Australia took first place among the women. More than 1,000 professional and amateur athletes from more than 40 countries participated in the third annual Beijing International Triathlon, on Sunday, September 14.

This year's new race location started and finished inside the Garden Expo Park, in the eco-friendly Fengtai district of Beijing. The new Olympic distance race featured a 1.5 km swim through Garden Expo Lake; a challenging 40 km bike race through the villages of Fengtai and up Qian Ling Mountain, the highest peak in Southwest Beijing; and a final 10 km run through the lush gardens and scenic trails of the Garden Expo Park, including a 606-step stair climb.

A prestigious field of the world's top professional triathletes, Olympians and IRONMAN champions including Olympian Javier Gomez (ESP); Olympian Matt “Boom Boom” Reed (USA); Olympian Greg Bennett (AUS); Olympian Mario Mola (ESP); Josh Amberger (AUS); Brian Fleischmann (USA); Graham O'Grady (NZL), Olympian Laura Bennett (USA); Olympian Ricarda Lisk (GER); Carolina Routier Canigueral (ESP); six-time IRONMAN 70.3 Champion Emma-Kate Lidbury (UK); Ashleigh Gentle (AUS); and Yi Zhang (CHN) all competed for $100,000 in prize money.

“This new course was really tough, the bike was technical with lots of hills and turns, I had to really push hard to stay with Josh and Greg during the bike portion of the race,” said 2014 Beijing International Triathlon Winner Javier Gomez. “I caught them on the first portion of the run, then I powered up the stairs to secure a strong lead. I felt really good at this point so I just kept pushing through the run to hold on to the win.”

Top Finishers:

			First Place:	Javier Gomez, ESP, 1:55:32
				Ashleigh Gentle, AUS, 2:08:12
			Second Place:	Josh Amberger, AUS, 1:56:51
				Ricarda Lisk, GER, 2:11:25
			Third Place:	Greg Bennett, AUS, 1:57:28
				Laura Bennett, USA, 2:13:35

“The course was amazing, especially the bike leg, it was quite challenging and that is where I was able to catch Carolina and then Laura,” said 2014 Beijing International Triathlon Female First Place Winner Ashleigh Gentle. “I loved the race – the course, the people and the location.”

Husband and wife team Laura and Greg Bennett each took third place, rounding off the top three spots on the podium. The 2014 Beijing International Triathlon was presented by the Fengtai Sports Bureau of Beijing and produced by IMG. For more information visit www.beijinginternationaltriathlon.com.

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