Third Position Good Reward for Sheedy-Ryan

WAIS IASP athlete Felicity Sheedy-Ryan competed in her first ever Duathlon World Championship on the weekend, finishing in third position.

Held in Edinburgh, Scotland, it was the home-grown hero Catriona Morrison who took line honours in a time of 2:02.47 to claim a fourth World title.

Second place went to French competitor Sandra Levenez – who was a further 18 seconds behind Morrison. Sheedy-Ryan, clocked a highly competitive 2:06.14 in her first attempt at this level, showing the 25 year-old will be a real force in the future.

It was the second year in a row that Levenez finished in the runner-up spot at the Duathlon World Championship, having finished second to Czech Vendula Frintova in Concord, North Carolina, USA last season.

The men’s Elite competition was all about the Belgians, who pulled off an unprecedented podium sweep, with Bart Aernouts taking top honours in 1:50:22. It’s the biggest result of the 26-year-old’s career, after finishing third at the 2008 Duathlon World Champs. Aernouts topped countryman Rob Woestenborghs by 22 seconds. Fellow Belgian Joerie Vansteelant, younger brother of the late Benny Vansteelant (four-time ITU Duathlon World Champion), rounded out the men’s podium, finishing six seconds behind Woestenborghs.