Published April 8, 2011 08:16AM
Triathletes upset with decision to hold May 14 race in Japan near nuclear plant.
Olympic champions Jan Frodeno and Emma Snowsill believe the International Triathlon Union should cancel the world championship series race in Yokohama, Japan next month.
Yokohama is about 200 miles south of the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactor, where millions of litres of radioactive water have leaked into the ocean.
The athletes are scheduled to swim 1.5K in Yokohama Harbour to start the race, which is an Olympic qualifying event.
Snowsill, the 2008 Beijing Olympic champion from Australia, and Frodeno, the men’s winner from Germany, have said they will not compete in Japan.
The first round of the ITU series is in Sydney on Sunday, when the sport’s elite athletes will compete in the swim, a 40K cycle and a 10K run.
Frodeno said the ITU was wrong to force its athletes to choose between risking their health and earning valuable Olympic qualification points.
Read More: The Canadian Press