Hackett takes world crown

PERTH, MAY 1. Australia's Nicole Hackett hung on bravely to fight off a challenge from Canadian veteran Carol Montgomery to snatch an upset win in the women's world triathlon championship here on Sunday.

Hackett, 21 and ranked 20th in the world, was among the leaders for most of the gruelling race, and finished seven seconds ahead of the long-striding 31-year-old Canadian No 19. Hackett, a double world junior champion, recorded 1 hour 54 minutes 43.3 seconds.

Fellow Australian Michellie Jones was a further 36 seconds behind in third place. Jones, the World No. 1, won the Sydney World Cup race two weeks ago on the Olympic course.

Hackett was first out of the water after the 1.5-km swim and at the end of the 40-km cycle leg was in a group of three, including Americans Barb Lindquist and Sheila Taormina, who led by a massive 1 min 50 sec.

Montgomery quickly moved up into second position at the start of the 10-km leg, reducing Hackett's advantage to only 50 seconds with 5 km to go. But the Australian had enough in reserve over the final 5 km to hold the Canadian at bay.

``Everything went perfectly today,'' said Hackett, who automatically qualifies to represent Australia at the Olympics in September.

``I got a dream start in the swim and it went brilliantly from there. I didn't have too much left at the end. There are so many wonderful champions in Australia, to be one of them is so exciting,'' Hackett said.

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Section  : Sport
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