Race Report Archive
Jodie headed into the biggest race of her career in fine form, following her impressive finish at the Hyde Park ITU event a few weeks ago. Heading out onto the Gold Coast - where she had spent a number of months winter training earlier in the year - saw Jodie line up at the U23 World Championship final - after qualifying on the back of her Silver at the European Championships earlier this year.
There was a huge build up in the days leading up to the race, but Jodie proved what a true professional she is, dealing with such pressure and expectation well, to deliver a fantastic performance to bring home the Silver medal.
A strong GB squad of Jodie, Vicky Holland and Beijing Olympian Hollie Avil, had high hopes of producing a great medal haul for GB in this race, with all 3 capable of producing a race winning performance - and they did just that.
Heading off the beach into the swim, Jodie delivered a world class swim performance which saw her exit and head out of T1 in the leading pack, alongside a group of 5 other athletes - which included the full GB squad.
As all three members of the GB team worked hard to push the pace, they started pulling away from the chasing pack to open up a real lead, further extending the gap as each lap passed.
The lead soon rose to over 2 and half minutes as the gap further extended and it soon became clear that the GB team were going to dominate proceedings.
Jodie was still right up there and working hard amongst the pack to continue to push the pace. With the leading pack coming into T2 with their lead further enhanced - the GB team were really pushing the pace and working hard together to develop the lead.
As the group exited T2 onto the run, there were 4 athletes pushing the pace hard - 3 of them from the GB squad. It was clear that their work on the bike had clearly paid off as the other members of the lead pack were unable to cope with the strong GB performance.
Jodie headed out onto the run looking comfortable and soon settling into a steady rhythm. As the run progressed the pace started to pick up and unfortunately Vicky Holland dropped off the pace a little which damaged hopes a full GB podium, however with Jodie looking strong she continued to push the pace as the lead pack now held only 3 athletes.
The race was now on to decide the podium finishing positions.
As the race progressed into the final lap Jodie and eventual winner - Hollie Avil - stepped up another gear and managed to drop Canadian athlete Paula Findlay off the back of them. It was now a 1 - 2 race for Gold & Silver between Jodie & Avil.
With the two of them jostling for position, Avil managed a surge which was just too strong for Jodie to react in time to, as she escaped the clutches of Jodie, and went on to take the Gold, as Jodie came in behind in a credible second position.
It was a fantastic effort from Jodie which pushed Beijing Olympian Avil all the way to the final stages and demonstrated further proof that Jodie is continuing to proove her worth as a World Class triathlete.
Vicky Holland also put in a great show managing an impressive 4th place finish, which unfortuntaly saw her fall slightly out of the medal postions.
After just 7 months of working under the guidance of Michelle Dillon, Jodie has stepped upto the challenge and has clearly shown the progress she has made under such a coaching regime - taking succesive Silver medals at both the European & World Championships in 2009.
With a full winter programme of training under her belt along with the experience of heading out to the States to race in the next few weeks, with Michelle & Stuart [Hayes] - Jodie will no doubt be ready and looking forward to hitting the World stage again in 2010.
15th August 09 - World Class performance sees Jodie take 11th at the World Championship Series event at Hyde Park
Following a difficult couple of weeks for Jodie, where injuries have impacted on recent results, she was keen to make an impression at today's event in Hyde Park.
Following her disappointment of a DNF in her debut race on the World Championship Series in Hamburg, Jodie's determination to do well was evident in today's performance -as a world leading bike leg propelled Jodie to a phenomenal finishing position.
As an unranked competitor in today's event, Jodie saw herself enter the pontoon last and in the most disadvantageous position diving off the pontoon.
Coming out of the swim way down in 38th place, many people will have no doubt written Jodie off, as she headed out of T1 just over a minute down on the leaders.
With a number of strong Olympians way ahead of Jodie, it was understandable that many people would have been questioning whether Jodie could break into the top 20 yet alone at top 5.
However, for anybody who has witnessed Jodie's determination, dedication and natural talent there was no doubt that she would be able to make a big impression heading out onto the bike - and she did just that.
Over the 8 laps of the bike course, Jodie began reeling in the field ahead and started moving up, eventually breaking into the lead pack. Heading out onto the final few laps Jodie skillfully managed to avert the danger of a large crash within her pack, and left the field in her tracks.
Putting in a fantastic overall bike performance which saw her take the 3rd quickest time of the race - a fantastic overall bike time of 59:41.
Such a phenomenal performance on her bike propelled Jodie into T2 within the lead pack, and a trademark quick transition saw Jodie head out onto the run - leading the World Championship Hyde Park event.
As Jodie took the run out extremely quickly, she managed to hold her pace well for a lot of the race, before dropping the pace slightly - maybe suffering from the amazingly hard work she had done on the bike, as the eventual race winner took the pace away from Jodie.
Jodie managed to maintain a good enough pace to ensure a brilliant 11th place finish and further enhance her credentials as a real rising star of British Triathlon, showing what a fantastic future she has in the sport.
Such a performance will no doubt be a major boost to Jodie as she now steps up her preparation for the Under 23 World Championships on the Gold Coast in just a few weeks. Jodie will be hoping to take this form into the race and will have high hopes of another great performance out in Australia.
2nd August 09 - Jodie crowned Super Series Champion after London Triathlon
On the back of last weeks disappointing performance in Hamburg, Jodie was keen to put to bed any questions surrounding her fitness and determination, and what better event to step upto the plate than the World's most popular triathlon - The Mazda London Triathlon.
This year's event attracted a huge number of competing athletes pushing the entries to well over 10,000, and as Jodie lined up in the water alongside a group of world class athletes, today was certainly not going to be anything but a huge test.
Today's event saw Jodie lining up alongside current World Champion & Beijing Olympian Helen Jenkins for the first time this season, and 2004 Athens Olympian Jodie Swallow, along with a number of international athletes using the race as preparation for the up and coming Hyde Park World Championship series race in a couple of weeks.
With the sun shining down, the conditions were certainly a far reach from the wind and rain swept street of Hamburg last week, and duly Jodie's start could not have been any better.
The swim saw a long straight start up the Thames, and Jodie powered into the front of the swim pack by about half of a body length. Clearly showing that she is more than capable of holding her own, alongside the Elite field of Internationally recognised athletes.
As the swim started to pan out the field started to spread slightly, and Jodie found herself move into the chasing pack, as Helen Jenkins, Jodie Swallow, Liz Blatchford and Vicky Holland form a clear leading group.
Jodie was in a pack of just 4 athletes, as they began the chase of the leaders, with a further pack of athletes forming a 2nd chase pack.
Transition at the London triathlon is not the best and as the athletes exit the swim they have to remove the wetsuit and place it into a plastic bag before running up the ramp into T1 to start the bike.
With the wind blowing, Jodie struggled to get the suit into the bag, but she soon managed to collect her bike and headed out of T1 as the leader of the main chase pack.
As shown in recent weeks, a group working together really goes a long way in determining the shape of the race and as a chase group formed the leaders were starting to pull away. As a large number of athletes joined the chase group it became a really dysfunctional group and as such started to work against each other.
Consequently the well formed lead pack of Jenkins, Swallow, Blatchford and Holland were using all of their experience by working hard together and were soon putting some increasing distance between them and the chase group - where Jodie had now found herself stuck in.
Coming into T2, the leaders had generated a lead of about 1.30minutes and as such was going to be huge ask for Jodie to run that time down.
It became clear that Jodie was going to struggle to reel the time back. She began to look uncomfortable and didn't seem to be able to find the running rhythm, which saw her storm the Windsor course just a few weeks ago.
As the run progressed Jodie dropped a few places, as she was overtaken by a couple of the International athletes who had come over in preparation for Hyde Park - she was now clearly struggling along. On the back of last weeks performance Jodie was determined to finish and she duly battled through the full 10km fighting the pains of stitch throughout the whole run.
Despite a disappointing finishing position, Jodie can take a great deal of credit for today's performance. Today's finishing time saw Jodie shave a massive 5 minutes off last years time, despite feeling so uncomfortable on the run.
Jodie's position had no bearing on the British Super Series outcome, as she had wrapped the title up prior to today's race. However, she was duly crowned the British Super Series Champion at the end of today's race, which saw her take the title after an awesome series of results - the highlight being the dominating, record breaking performance at Windsor.
A couple of weeks training are now on the cards, with a rest from racing next weekend which will see Jodie prepare for the big event at Hyde Park for the ITU World Championship Series - where Jodie will be hoping the make an impression on the back of her debut race on the circuit.
25th July 09 - Disappointment for Jodie in debut race
Jodie went into her debut race on the Eilte World Championship Series, in high spirits and confident on the back of such impressive form within the domestic race calender.In only her first race on the Elite Championship circuit, Jodie was keen to use the race to gain valuable experience of racing on such a stage. On a pontoon start lining up alongside current World Series leader Emma Moffatt, along with Beijing Olympian's Lisa Norden, Lauren Groves and Kathy Tremblay to name but a few - it was sure to be a baptism of fire on her debut race.
Typically Jodie went into the race with a huge determination to not only gain experience but to come out with a respectable finishing position, hopefully in a position ahead of some of the sports top names. However, disaster struck as she started the race.
Although, a clean start saw Jodie mixing the swim with some of the sports biggest names, she initially looked good - despite suffering with illness in the days leading up to the race.
On the 1km mark she was up and alongside the likes of Tremblay and Kate Allen, but despite this, after exiting the water at the turn around point Jodie looked to be struggling to keep the high tempo. Slipping away from the group Jodie exited the swim into T1 a few meters further down than she would have liked.
Running into and through transition Jodie fell, and immediately looked shaken and slightly dis-orientated - as she struggled to locate the exit route out of T1. However, she made it onto her bike and looked as though she would make the distace up and pull herself back into the pack ahead.
As we have seen in recent weeks, although Jodie has struggled to make an impact in the swim, her biking performances have been exceptional - so there was no question as to whether she had the ability and pace to catch the pack. It was just a case of how long before she reeled them in.
However, Jodie looked to be struggling to make such a move and as she battled through the first two laps, she was failing to make any in roads into the pack and looked to be dropping off the pace.
After becoming physically sick on the bike, Jodie simply could not continue and had to pull out of the race - which was a huge disappointment for her. However, with her body clearly not upto the task in today's race after suffering in the last couple of daysd -there was only ever going to be one winner and her body decided she could not continue.
Understandably Jodie was bitterly disappointed that her debut race had ended in such a way, however it will surely add to her determination to put in the hard training hours and come back stronger from this race experience.
Heading into another busy schedule of races, in the lead up to the U23 World Championships in Australia, today's outcome will have added further fuel to Jodie's burning desire to become number 1 in the Triathlon world.
With just 6 weeks to go before her U23 World Championship race, this coule just be the start of a steep and important learning curve in her racing life.
18th July 09 - Hattrick of Gold's, yields Jodie a double Championship title
Recently dubbed by Channel 4 as “one of Britain’s hottest Triathlon properties”, Jodie went into today's race knowing a win would see her crowned as National Sprint Champion and also seal the British Super Series title.
Her third Gold in as many domestic races, ensured a comfortable win for Jodie, which saw her take the double Champion title. Jodie managed to wrap up the Super Series title despite there being another race left on the Series calender.
As Jodie continues to excel, more and more people are taking notice of her, as one of the hottest triathlon talents around and as such Jodie had to deal with the pressure of an expectant audience at today's race.
With Abbie Thorrington making her race come back after an injury lay off, she was sure to put some early pressure onto Jodie - and as expected did just that.
Despite being a competitive swim, Abbie developed a clear lead and consequently lead out and hit the bike in 1st place - with Jodie attempting to close the gap, after coming out of the water down in 4th place.
An unsually tricky transition, saw Jodie head out onto the bike about 30 seconds down. However, as we have seen over the course of this season Jodie worked tremedously hard on her new Specialised S-Works bike - courtesy of Brotherton Cycles.
After seeing her recent biking performances, Brotherton Cycles have really stepped up their support to Jodie and kitted her out with this fantastic new top of the range bike. Which certainly did the trick!
Jodie soon clawed her way back upto Abbie and immediately set her intentions, as she pushed the pace of the bike. Despite an attempt from Thorogood to stay with Jodie, she was soon unable to match the high tempo of the bike set by both Jodie and Abbie.
Both Jodie and Abbie really stepped up the pace of the bike - both working tremendously hard to open up a gap away from the chasing pack.
As they both came into T2 they had opened up a gap of aprox 1 minute and both headed out onto the run - with Jodie holding the fastest bike time of the race.
However, as we have seen in recent races, Jodie immediately powered away heading the run out with a fantastic pace. From this point it was clear that nobody would be able to match the pace of Jodie, as she continued to push herself hard all the way through to the finish line.
As Jodie headed into the finish straight, she duly lapped up the crowd's enthusiasm after they were entertained with yet another dominating performance by Jodie - who is currently on fire!
Jodie crossed the line a clear 2 minutes ahead of 2nd placed athlete, Rachel Klamer from Netherlands, to take her hattrick of Gold medals in the British Super Series.
Yet another dominating performance ensures Jodie takes her fantastic form into her debut race on the ITU World Championship Series, where she will line up against the likes of Olympic gold medalist Emma Snowsill, Vanessa Fernandez and current Series leader Andrea Hewitt.
Be sure to check out how she fairs against the top females Triathlete in the World.
Further race reports at:-
http://www.tri247.com/article_5568_Bryn+Bach+headline+results.html?region_id=&category=
http://www.britishtriathlon.org/news/article.php?id=10297
20th June 09 - 100% podium record intact as Jodie takes Silver at U23 Europeans
Jodie continued her ‘podium streak’ by taking silver at today’s U23 European Championship race in Italy, further cementing her place as a real contender and one of the hottest young triathlon talents around.
Today’s race was a real step up from the Junior ranks, and having performed so well in the Elite GB National champs this year, Jodie went into the race feeling confident - especially on the back of her dominating win at Windsor last week. The Italian mountains provided a great backdrop for today’s event, unfortunately however the same could not be said for the weather, which was much more suited to a GB climate. Thunderstorms and torrential rain battered the course over night, resulting in an hour delay to the start, as organizers frantically attempted to re build the course – all of which adding to the pre-race nerves already building.
However, these were soon quashed as the swim began and more so when Jodie exited the swim in 3rd place – a mere 5 seconds behind the leader. Jodie’s trademark transition saw her exit T1 alongside a number of athletes who quickly formed a the leading bike pack.
With another large pack forming behind, the leading pack needed to push the pace, and with Jodie within the lead pack it was going to be a difficult task for the chasing group to catch up. Immediately Jodie powered to the front of the pack – dictating the tempo from an early stage and pushing the pace of the pack hard.
In difficult and torrential conditions, Jodie’s tactical move ensured that at the front of the pack she was able to stay out of trouble and away from any potential crashes. Having crashed out in last years Junior Euro Champs held in Lisbon, Jodie was only too aware of the need to stay tactically aware within the bike pack.
Jodie’s early move paid off as her phenomenal power and speed on the bike ensured the tempo remained high and other athletes were needing to work hard to stay with the group.
As the pack came into T2 Jodie headed out onto the run and was closely followed by the eventual winner and Beijing Olympian Yuliya Sapunova. As the two ran together, Jodie’s early running pace was hard to match as Jodie took the intiative, however with just 2km to go, Sapunova started to make a move which although was countered by Jodie, she was unable to match and defend her lead. Despite suffering a mental blow Jodie stayed strong and determined, continuing her pace to power home in second place exactly 1 minute ahead of 3rd place.
Jodie said " I just wasn't able to respond to her [Supanova] surge today but I'm very happy with my race and I have never run under 36 mins for a10km before - which is what I did today. I pushed the bike hard too so I'm really pleased with my run and my Silver medal."
Today’s race proved the progression Jodie has made over the past few months of working alongside Michelle Dillon, further proving that Jodie’s dedication and hard work is also propelling her career onto the next level. Coming in with a PB on the run, her podium finish cements Jodie's place onto the U23 GB squad for the World Championships, being held on the Gold Cost in September.
All eyes are now on her progression throughout the rest of the season and leading upto the Worlds in September. If the early signs are anything to go by, working under the fantastic guidance of Michelle Dillon, Jodie is now well on the road to a long and successful career in Triathlon.
Further race reports at:-
http://www.britishtriathlon.org/news/article.php?id=10262
http://www.tri247.com/article_5399_Saturday%27s+headlines.html?region_id=&category=
14th June 09 - Record Breaking Win Sees Jodie Take Gold At Windsor
Having been hotly tipped as the pre race favourite, Jodie did not disappoint – taking Gold at today’s Nokia Windsor Triathlon and smashing the course record, previously held by current World Champion Helen Jenkins, by a phenomenal 33 seconds. With such a historic event stretching back 19 years today’s performance saw Jodie storm into the record books with a truly breathtaking performance.
On the back of such an impressive few weeks, Jodie had been built up in Triathlon press as the hot race favorite for today’s race, and duly delivered a fantastic performance which saw her completely dominate the Elite women’s race at Windsor today.
An impressive swim saw Jodie exit into T1 hot on the heels of training partner Bex Milnes, and as the two exited T1 and onto the bike, Jodie began stretching the lead fighting off any attempts by the chasing pack who were looking to close the gap. On a hot and sunny day, cycling around the fantastic setting of Windsor castle and Eton, Jodie was starting to put on a real Triathlon master class as she came into T2 having built up a lead of over 5 minutes on the chasing pack.
At an event where Jodie has historically struggled to make an impact on the run, today was completely different as Jodie powered out of T2 straight into a fast and comfortable running rhythm – giving the clearest indication yet that the hard work Jodie put in over the winter alongside new coach Michelle Dillon is starting to reap it’s rewards. Jodie went from strength to strength on the run and began stretching the lead she had built up on the bike. Coming into to the home straight Jodie pulled on the customary Team Dillon cap to power home across the finishing line taking Gold with a phenomenal lead of 7minutes 46 seconds.
Today’s race is great preparation for the up and coming U23 European Championships next week, and Jodie will take great confidence into the race on the back of such a dominant performance.
Team Dillon once again took double podium at today’s race after Stuart Hayes added to last weeks Gold medal at Blenheim with another great performance at today’s Windsor event.
Further race reports available at:-
http://www.tri247.com/article_5358_Stimpson+%28dominates%29+and+Hayes+win+Windsor.html?region_id=&category
http://www.tri247.com/article_5362_Hayes+and+Stimpson+win+Nokia+Windsor+Triathlon.html?region_id=&category
http://www.britishtriathlon.org/news/article.php?id=10254
http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/sport/article-11541-stimpson-sets-course-record-at-windsor-triathlon/
7th June 09 - Jodie continues to impress after taking Gold at Blenheim
Following her impressive finish at the Nationals, Jodie followed it up with a Gold at Blenheim to make it onto the podium for the second time out of her first 2 races.
At today's sprint event Jodie proved she is more than capable of mixing up her distances, and continued to take the plaudits for some extremely hard work over the winter, with today's race an excellent showcase for the strides she has made on her running.
'Team Dillon' had an excellent weekend as Stuart Hayes also took Gold in the Mens Eilte Race, and Irina Kirchler took Gold in the Austrian National Champs today. Under the guidance of Michelle Dillon (www.teamdilloncoaching.com) Jodie continues to go from strength to strength.
17th May 09 - Impressive start to the 2009 season, with a 3rd at Elite National Championships
Jodie's first race of the season saw her competing in the British National Championships, as she stepped up from the Junior ranks to compete on the full Elite stage. The race at Strathclyde Country Park is part of the British Elite Series, where Jodie is looking to compete against the highest quality athletes in the Country.
Making the full step up didn't faze Jodie and after a pre season block of training out in Australia, working alongside coach Michelle Dillon, certainly paid off, as she stormed onto the podium to take 3rd place alongisde winner Jodie Swallow & Kerry Lang.
