It’s been quite a journey for Edmonton’s Paula Findlay since her Olympic appearance in 2012 in London – years of dealing with a variety of injuries hampered her ability to come back to the highest levels of WTS racing (she remains the most decorated WTS athlete in Canadian history with five WTS titles between 2010 and 2011) and she’s since turned her sights on the half-distance, with some impressive results including a win at the Ironman 70.3 North American Pro Championship in St. George, Utah last year.
Triathlon Magazine Canada caught up with Findlay a couple of days before the 70.3 World Championship in Nice. She’ll be one of 63 pro women lining up for tomorrow’s race and the only Canadian. On Sunday Guelph, Ont.’s Jackson Laundry will be the only Canadian in the men’s elite field.
The women’s race goes on Saturday, with the men competing on Sunday. Leading the women’s field is four-time Ironman 70.3 world champion Daniela Ryf. She’ll face some stiff competiti0n, though, including last year’s runner-up at both the 70.3 worlds in South Africa and the Ironman World Championship, Lucy Charles-Barclay, and the last woman not-named Daniela Ryf to win this title, 2016 world champ Holly Lawrence.
The men’s race promises to be very fast and very competitive, with Spain’s 10-time world champion Javier Gomez looking for a third 70.3 world title. He’ll have his work cut out for him, though, thanks to the competitive field that includes: England’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee, Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, who is fresh off a big win at last weekend’s Grand Final in Lausanne, two-time Kona champ Patrick Lange, two-time 70.3 world champ and 2014 Kona champ Sebastian Kienle to name just a few.
Women’s start list:
| Name | Race # | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Daniela Ryf | 1 | SUI |
| Lucy Charles-Barclay | 2 | GBR |
| Anne Haug | 3 | GER |
| Holly Lawrence | 4 | GBR |
| Pâmella Oliveira | 5 | BRA |
| Radka Kahlefeldt | 6 | CZE |
| Imogen Simmonds | 7 | SUI |
| Ellie Salthouse | 8 | AUS |
| Emma Pallant | 9 | GBR |
| Laura Philipp | 10 | GER |
| Lauren Goss | 12 | USA |
| Haley Chura | 14 | USA |
| India Lee | 16 | GBR |
| Sarah Crowley | 17 | AUS |
| Danielle Dingman | 18 | USA |
| Manon Genet | 19 | FRA |
| Jackie Hering | 20 | USA |
| Fanella Langridge | 21 | GBR |
| Carrie Lester | 22 | AUS |
| Lisa Norden | 23 | SWE |
| Barbara Riveros | 24 | CHI |
| Frankie Sanjana | 25 | GBR |
| Chelsea Sodaro | 26 | USA |
| Sara Svensk | 27 | SWE |
| Annah Watkinson | 28 | RSA |
| Pamela-Ann Bachelder St-Pierre | 29 | CAN |
| Lauren Barnett | 30 | USA |
| Maria Eugenia Barrera Anduaga | 31 | MEX |
| Gisele Bertucci | 33 | BRA |
| Jeanne Collonge | 34 | FRA |
| Judith Corachan | 35 | ESP |
| Luiza Cravo | 36 | BRA |
| Laura Dennis | 37 | AUS |
| Nina Derron | 38 | SUI |
| Dimity-Lee Duke | 39 | AUS |
| Amber Ferreira | 41 | USA |
| Paula Findlay | 42 | CAN |
| Alexandra Ganzon | 43 | PHI |
| Ewa Komander | 44 | POL |
| Leonie Konczalla | 45 | GER |
| Kinsey Laine | 46 | USA |
| Xenia Luxem | 47 | BEL |
| Rachel Olson | 48 | USA |
| Palacio Balena | 49 | ARG |
| Romina Pesch | 50 | USA |
| Anne Reischmann | 52 | GER |
| Katrina Rye | 53 | GBR |
| Kaisa Sali | 54 | FIN |
| Mariella Sawyer | 55 | RSA |
| Jenny Schulz | 56 | GER |
| Felicity Sheedy-Ryan | 57 | AUS |
| Bianca Steurer | 58 | AUT |
| Grace Thek | 59 | AUS |
| Alexandra Tondeur | 60 | BEL |
| Amelia Watkinson | 61 | NZL |
| Kyra Wiens | 63 | USA |
Men’s Start List:
| Name | Race # | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Javier Gomez | 1 | ESP |
| Alistair Brownlee | 2 | GBR |
| Sebastian Kienle | 3 | GER |
| Patrick Lange | 4 | GER |
| Ben Kanute | 5 | USA |
| Pieter Heemeryck | 6 | BEL |
| Sam Appleton | 7 | AUS |
| Adam Bowden | 8 | GBR |
| Rodolophe Von Berg | 9 | USA |
| Kristian Blummenfelt | 11 | NOR |
| Frederik Van Lierde | 12 | BEL |
| Tim Don | 14 | GBR |
| Ruedi Wild | 15 | SUI |
| Andrew Starykowicz | 16 | USA |
| Igor Amorelli | 17 | BRA |
| Florian Angert | 18 | GER |
| Santiago Ascenco | 19 | BRA |
| Andi Boecherer | 20 | GER |
| Kevin Collington | 21 | USA |
| Eric Lagerstrom | 22 | USA |
| Sam Long | 23 | USA |
| Elliot Smales | 24 | GBR |
| Bart Aernouts | 25 | BEL |
| Daniel Bækkegård | 26 | DEN |
| Maurice Clavel | 27 | GER |
| Andreas Dreitz | 28 | GER |
| George Goodwin | 30 | GBR |
| Jackson Laundry | 32 | CAN |
| Paulo Roberto Maciel Da Silva | 34 | BRA |
| Mike Phillips | 36 | NZL |
| Bradley Weiss | 37 | RSA |
| Josh Amberger | 38 | AUS |
| Filipe Azevedo | 39 | POR |
| Mark Bowstead | 40 | NZL |
| Matt Burton | 41 | AUS |
| Alan Carillo Avila | 42 | MEX |
| Pablo Dapena Gonzalez | 43 | ESP |
| Thomas Davis | 44 | GBR |
| Robbie Deckard | 45 | USA |
| Romain Guillaume | 46 | FRA |
| Gustav Iden | 47 | NOR |
| Yvan Jarrige | 48 | FRA |
| Ivan Kalashnikov | 49 | RUS |
| Mitchell Kibby | 50 | AUS |
| Andre Lopes | 51 | BRA |
| David Mainwaring | 52 | AUS |
| Jack Moody | 53 | NZL |
| Banjo Norte | 54 | PHI |
| Joaquin Pereda | 55 | MEX |
| Sam Pictor | 56 | GBR |
| Jason Pohl | 57 | CAN |
| Alexander Polizzi | 58 | AUS |
| Tim Rea | 59 | AUS |
| Horst Reichel | 60 | GER |
| Markus Rolli | 62 | GER |
| Francisco Serrano | 63 | MEX |
| Dominik Sowieja | 64 | GER |
| Milosz Sowinski | 65 | POL |
| Cyril Viennot | 66 | FRA |
| Iuri Vinuto Josino | 67 | BRA |
The post Nice Preview: Paula Findlay gears up for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship appeared first on Triathlon Magazine Canada.