… Sheila Taormina was 8th in the Hamburg WC last sunday… not bad for a retired athlete…
Warriner, Ospaly take Hamburg ITU World Cup
by Timothy Carlson
IT Senior Correspondent
This report filed August 7, 2005
In an ITU World Cup round almost ignored by United States athletes, Samantha Warriner of New Zealand won her second World Cup of the year and Filip Ospaly of Czechoslovakia won a sprint finish where the top three men were given the same finishing time at Hamburg, Germany.
After scoring a sixth place finish the week before at the ITU World Cup in Salford, England, 2004 ITU World Champion Sheila Taormina of the United States led during the swim and at the end of the bike before fading to eighth on the run. It was her second race following a recovery from leg injuries.
Taormina, who declared last August she would retire from triathlon after finishing 22nd at the Athens Olympics, decided early this year to compete in a limited race schedule and defend her world title to satisfy obligations to sponsors. After 2005, Taormina has said she will devote herself to mastering the modern pentathlon with the hopes of making the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in a third sport - following her gold medal in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle swimming relay in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and appearances on the U.S. women’s triathlon team at Sydney and Athens.