2016 Winter Triathlon World Championships Set For Saturday

The top winter triathletes from all over the world will join together in Zeltweg, Austria this weekend for the 2016 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships. Battling for the chance to be the best to race on foot, bike and skies, Elites and U23 world titles are up for grabs over a 6km run, 12km mountain bike and 9.6km ski course, with junior athletes and paratriathletes set to compete over shortened distances of the same course.

In the women’s race, Russia marks the first two spots on the list this year with Olga Parfinenko making out to be one of the front runners going into the weekend. On the circuit since 2013, Parfinenko took home the silver medal in the 2014 Winter Triathlon World Championships in Cogne. But winning two consecutive winter triathlon events in 2015, which includes the Quebec S3 World Cup and the Russian National Championships, she unmistakably will be ready to take home the gold in Zeltweg. She also has one victory under her belt this season as she won the 2016 Otepää ETU Winter Triathlon European Championships just last month.

Russia edges out the first four spots on the men’s start list with reigning champion Pavel Andreev predicted to be the man to chase down as he returns to defend his world title for the fifth consecutive time. One of the more experienced veterans on the field, Andreev is also coming off a strong win at the Otepää Winter Triathlon ETU European Championships, so look out for him to gun it on a drive for five.

Read the complete preview at Triathlon.org

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