Dibens is off-road World Champion
Team Bath Olympian Julie Dibens was crowned Xterra off-road triathlon World Champion in Hawaii yesterday (Sunday).
The 32-year-old won the gruelling women’s World Championship race in 3 hours one minute and 24 second.
She beat Canada’s three times Xterra world champion Melanie McQuaid into second place by more than eight minutes.
“I think I pretty much had the perfect race, it was awesome!” said a delighted Dibens.
“I had a good swim, and knew I had to have that lead coming out,” she added. “Then I got out on the bike and put my head down, didn’t look back didn’t ask for splits, just concentrated on what I was doing,” said Dibens.
The World Championships is the final stop on the Xterra global tour and the course at the island of Maui is considered the toughest on the calendar.
It was the first time Dibens had tackled the course, which consisted of a 1.5km rough sea swim, a 32km mountain bike ride, and climaxing with a 12km trail run.
Dibens, who represented Great Britain at the Athens 2004 Olympics and England at the Manchester 2002 and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, is now focussing on her net World Championships – the 70.3 championships in Florida in two weeks’ time.
The University of Bath has one of the leading university sports departments in the UK. Under its Team Bath brand, its success is based on the expertise and dedication of staff, and its excellent facilities, used by the community and Olympic medal winners alike.
Members of the media who require further information can contact the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 383518 or see the Team Bath website.
Posted: Monday 29th October 2007
