[UPDATED] Briere, Sieh crowned new Rainbow Cup champs

CLEMENT Briere and Nina Sieh said the hot conditions were particularly challenging, but the pair still had enough to be crowned the new champions in the Olympic distance triathlon, at the Massy Rainbow Cup at Turtle Beach, Tobago, yesterday.

Last year’s winners Jason Wilson, of Barbados, and Venezuelan Genesis Ruiz did not compete. Wilson retired from the sport and Ruiz could not get a flight to TT.

Frenchman Briere won the men’s and overall title in two hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds (2:12:30), ahead of Jason Costelloe of TT (2:18:41) and Jamaican Phillip McCatty (2:22:20).
In the Olympic distance athletes were required to complete a 1.5K swim, a 40K ride and a 10K run.

Sieh, of Canada, won the women’s title and was fifth overall in 2:34:03. Jenna Ross of TT was second in the women’s category in 2:41:32 and Christiane Farah, also of TT, was third in 2:55:47. Costelloe and Ross were crowned men’s and women’s TT champions respectively.
The day started off overcast, but the athletes had to endure hot conditions in the second half of the event. Briere said, “I felt very hot today, more than the past year. I don’t know if it was me or it was the weather.”

Briere, who met his wife at the event a few years ago, said the run was difficult for him. “Today, it was the run (was the most challenging)…I felt very bad immediately in the run because of the heat, so I tried to manage the pace and after the first lap I saw it was hard for everybody so I just pushed hard to finish.”

Sieh, a consistent performer over the years, was glad to return.

“I was happy to come out and give the best effort I could. I did not exactly prepare enough for this race because I was not expecting to come out, but Jason (Gooding) puts on a really good race every single year, so I am happy to come out and support. It is a really good time and this is again one of the hardest courses I have ever done, but it is a good challenge to start off my season,” Sieh said.

Sieh looked fairly comfortable at the finish, but also said it was a battle against the heat.
“It is hard, it is definitely hard. We are not use to the heat, but luckily it was a bit overcast today, so that was good for us.”

The sprint triathlon also took place featuring a number of TT junior athletes attempting the 750m swim, 20K ride and a 5K run.

In the men’s category, Troy Llanos, 16, won gold in 1:07:26, followed by 19-year-old Logan Raymond, who was second in 1:10:43, and Jean-Marc Granderson, 18, clocked the same time to finish third.

Rachel Grosberg, 18, comfortably won the women’s title in 1:16:25 and Barbadian Zahra Gaskin, 16, claimed silver in 1:19:00. Lara Littlepage, 41, took home bronze in 1:25:44.

Relay events were also held in the Olympic and sprint distance. Family Outing including Ryan Mendes, David Hackshaw and Elizabeth Hackshaw won the Olympic distance relay in 2:45:23 and snatching the sprint distance crown were OAW-Fire comprising Aidan Simon, Nikolai Ho and Michael Honore.

Youth triathlon events were also held with athletes competing in the 7 to 9, 10 to 12 and 13 to 15 age groups. A 5K brought the day to a close.

This story was originally published with the title " Briere, Sieh crowned Rainbow Cup champs" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

CLEMENT Briere and Nina Sieh were crowned the new champions in the Olympic distance triathlon event at the Massy Rainbow Cup at Turtle Beach, Tobago, this morning.

Last year's winners Jason Wilson, of Barbados, and Genesis Ruiz did not compete this year. Wilson retired from the sport and Ruiz could not get a flight to TT.

Frenchman Briere won the men's and overall title in two hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds (2:12:30), ahead of Jason Costelloe of TT (2:18:41) and Jamaican Phillip McCatty (2:22:20).

In the Olympic distance athletes were required to complete a 1.5K swim, a 40K ride and a 10K run.

Sieh of Canada won the women's title and was fifth overall in 2:34:03, Jenna Ross of TT was second in the women's category in 2:41:32 and Christiane Farah, also of TT, was third in 2:55:47. Costelloe and Ross were crowned men's and women's TT champions respectively.