Canada's Joanna Brown earns 2nd medal of triathlon World Cup season
24-year-old reaches podium with bronze at event in Italy
Canada's Joanna Brown continued the best start of her triathlon career with her second World Cup medal this spring by taking bronze in Cagliari, Italy on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Brown, who stepped onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career this spring with a silver, turned more heads with a third-place finish against many of the top names in the sport.
Brown, of Carp, Ont., clocked a time of one hour, two minutes, 29 seconds in the sprint race.
"It feels amazing to be back on the podium," said Brown. "I came here with a mission of getting on the podium, and I think being able to back up my performance from New Plymouth is a really good indication that training is going well and that I'm headed in the right direction."
Switzerland's Jolanda Annen was first to cross the finish line with a time of 1:02:04. Kirsten Kasper, of the United States, topped Canada's Brown by one second to claim the silver medal at 1:02:28.
Brown is certainly capturing the world's attention in her return to the National Development Team and elite racing. Once one of Canada's top prospects following her bronze-medal triumphs at the junior and under-23 world championships earlier in her career, Brown was ready to pack it in after battling through three years of injuries
But thanks to a shift to a new training group in 2017, led by Jono Hall and Triathlon Canada's National Performance Centre based out of Victoria, Brown is now back on track.
"I'm really luck to train with a few ladies that are experienced and successful on the World Cup and WTS circuits, and training with them gives me a lot of confidence in my abilities," Brown said. "I am really looking forward to improving in small steps this year an working towards a bigger four-year plan."
Canadian contingent
Two other Canadian women were also on the start line. Emy Legault grabbed the 26h spot with a time of 1:05:52, while Amelie Kretz made her first elite start since the 2016 Olympic Summer Games and finished in 1:06:01.
On the men's side, Tyler Mislawchuk was the top Canuck, finishing 11th with a time of 55:43 and Charles Paquet finished 17th in 56:09.
Adrien Briffod ensured a Swiss golden sweep in Cagliari, topping the men's field in a time of 54:49. Henri Schoeman of South Africa (54:52) and Athony Pujades of France (54:58) rounded out the podium, finishing second and third respectively.