Triathletes win first medals for Team BC
In blistering heat, Team BC triathletes mastered the men’s and women’s events taking three medals and three top ten placements at the 2017 Canada Games individual triathlon races at Birds Hill Provincial Park. These were the first medals for Team BC at the Games.
The women were up first. BC athletes were in the lead pack for the most of the race. Desirae Ridenour of Cowichan Bay continued her strong season taking the gold medal in 1:04:39.40. It’s her third win in three weeks of racing.
Her teammate from Victoria, Hannah Henry, was less than 30 seconds behind to finish with the silver medal.
Hannah’s sister, Holly finished the course in just under one hour and nine minutes to place eighth.
All three previously competed in the BC Summer Games.
In the men’s race, Team BC athletes set the pace early. Michael Milic of Delta won the silver medal, just 21 seconds behind the winner from Team Quebec. Milic completed the race in 58:34.10. His teammates were less than a minute behind him with Brock Hoel (West Kelowna) in fourth and Aiden Longcroft-Harris (Victoria) in fifth.
Hoel and Milic also competed at the BC Summer Games.
The water temperature was 27 degrees and the air temperature approached 40 with the humidex.
The relay races come next on Thursday in the triathlon competition.
Quotes
RIDENOUR, Desirae (Cowichan Bay) – Gold
On winning gold
“I am just happy to come home with the gold and represent Team BC. And hopefully, this will carry other teams to win more medals for us.”
On her busy season
“I did feel pretty tired. This is my third race in three weeks. And the heat really takes a toll on you. But you keep hydrating.”
HENRY, Hannah (Victoria) – Silver
On winning silver
“It feels great. We are really happy to have the first two medals for Team BC.”
On her race
“I was kind of nervous going into the swim, but I was super happy to come third out of the water. There was a crash behind us but team BC managed to stay out of it. I liked the course. It was fast.”
MILIC, Michael (Delta) – Silver
On winning silver
“I thought it was a really solid race for me. Obviously, you always want to win. But, I did the best I could and it was good to have my other teammates close behind me on the run. And I could tell they were having a pretty good day too.”
On the hot weather during the race
“On the run and on the bike, it was really hot and humid but I just tried to stay hydrated, splashed myself with some water and just kept going.”
On Team BC’s strong performance in triathlon
“This year, we just have a really solid team and we have some talent coming up from the young racers. It’s good to see.”