Findlay flying, Whitfield wobbly heading into world triathlon final

Paula Findlay and Simon Whitfield are on different paths heading into the world triathlon championship final in Budapest, Hungary.

Findlay, the young upstart from Edmonton, has won back-to-back world championship series races. The 21-year-old has won five of her six races in total this season, and feels the wings that winning brings as Sunday's race approaches.

Whitfield, an Olympic gold and silver medallist, has raced through a trying season. The latest headache for the 35-year-old from Victoria was injuring his knee when a vehicle struck his bike Saturday during training.

The ITU Triathlon World Championship Grand Final Budapest is the last of a seven-race series sponsored by Dextro Energy that determines this year's men and women's world champions.

While Findlay, ranked eighth, isn't likely to catch overall leader Emma Moffatt of Australia on Sunday for the overall lead, the Canadian has established herself as a threat to win Sunday after victories over elite fields on the Olympic course in London and in Hamburg, Germany.

"I do have expectations," Findlay admitted from Budapest during a conference call. "I'd love to finish on the podium, or in the top five, but I know everyone is very ready for this race and this is the peak race of the season. It will be a hard race."

While on a training ride near Saarbrucken, Germany, with teammate Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., Whitfield says a car tried to push him off the road. When Whitfield banged on the car window to alert the driver, he said the driver made a sharp right turn and slammed on the brakes, which sent Whitfield flying over his handlebars.

Whitfield said the driver then yelled at him in German and a motorcyclist stopped and also joined in berating him, while another German man provided intermittent translation.

"It almost made it comedy," Whitfield recalled. "That was how ridiculous the whole situation became as Kyle and I were berated by two people. We didn't understand the language and we had this young guy interpreting.

"It kind of carried on and on and became surreal theatre. At the time, I though it was almost funny. Now looking back on it, I realize there was a little bit of shock, hitting the car and hitting the ground."

Whitfield's suspect knee has thrown his plans for the men's elite race Saturday into flux. After a few days of in activity, he planned to test his knee Friday and then make a decision on what to do.

"We're in Budapest, it's an incredible venue and I'm a competitive bugger, so I want to see if I can pull something out," Whitfield said.

When Whitfield won Olympic silver in Beijing two years ago, teammate Colin Jenkins sacrificed a better result for himself by serving as Whitfield's domestique on the 40-kilometre bike leg of the race.

Drafting is allowed and Jenkins working with Whitfield allowed the latter to stay at the front of the pack and set up for the 10k run.

If Whitfield believe his knee won't finish the run Saturday, he'll discuss options with Triathlon Canada high-performance director Kurt Innes. Plan B is serving as a domestique for the 25-year-old Jones.

"If it's something Kyle wants, I haven't really talked to him about it," Whitfield said. "If Kurt and Kyle think I can help and it's not going to hurt my knee, then I'd be honoured to do that for him because it's something Colin did for me."

Whitfield's last race was a victory at the Canadian championship Aug. 21 in Kelowna, B.C. He was also fifth at a World Cup in Sydney, Australia, where he won his Olympic gold a decade ago.

But Whitfield didn't finish a world championship series race in Seoul, South Korea, or a World Cup event in Des Moines, Iowa. He's currently ranked 18th in the world standings.

"I've had the season I've been avoiding for 14 years," Whitfield said. "The daunting thing about this is I don't have a lot of world championships left. That's the disappointment you are hearing from me."

In addition to the men's elite race Saturday and the women's event Sunday, the world junior, under-23 and paratriathlon championships are also in Budapest.

Ottawa's Kimberly Fawcett-Smith, Jody Barber of Smithers, B.C., Pierre Ouelett of Ancienne-Lorette, Que., Darren Smith of Victoria, Charles Moreau of Trois-Rivieres, Que., Grant Darby of Hamilton, Lorene Hatelt of Brampton, Ont., and Calgary's Kim Wedgerfield comprise the Canadian team for Saturday's paratriathlon.

Victoria's Kirsten Sweetland, a former world junior champion, and Jeff Philipps, along with Andrew Yorke of Caledon, Ont., are Canada's entries in the world under-23 championships Saturday.

Alison Hooper, Matt Sharpe and Christine Ridenour of Victoria, Alexander Hinton of Kingston, Ont., Joanna Brown of Carp, Ont., and Cole Stewart of Langley, B.C., comprise the Canadian team for the world junior championship Sunday.