Jan Frodeno is the current German triathlon champion but he did not start at the recent 2008 ITU World Championships to concentrate fully on his Olympic quest. He has been on the podium in World Cups before, but doing that in Beijing would be sweeter.

Javier Gomez (ESP) won the 2008 ITU Elite Triathlon World Championships and confirmed that he will be the man to beat in Beijing this summer. The Elite women’s race was surprisingly won by Helen Tucker (GBR) who out-sprinted Sarah Haskins (USA) just before the finish line.

Alistair Brownlee (GBR) held of defending champion Gregor Buchholz (GER) at the 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Vancouver, BC and took the U23 title. Wearing bib #1 just like Alistair Brownlee did in the men’s race, Daniela Ryf (SWI) snagged the U23 women’s title.

After taking the crown at Florida 70.3 just a few weeks ago, Paul Amey now also ran away with the title at the 2008 Eagleman Ironman 70.3 triathlon. The women’s race was won by Joanna Zeiger who led the event from start to finish.

Reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champ Andy Potts and Great Britain’s Leanda Cave beat back solid fields to win the Accenture Escape from Alcatraz triathlon, each defending their victories from a year ago.

Vincent Luis (FRA) took the 2008 Junior Men World Championship crown in Vancouver, Canada with a dominating performance. Denis Vasiliev (RUS) was the runner-up and Jonathon Brownlee (GBR) finished third.

Kirsty McWilliam (GBR) won the 2008 Junior Women World Championships in rainy and cold conditions. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) finished second and Zsofia Toth (HUN) rounded out the podium.

Not too many folks would have predicted that Jarrod Shoemaker would earn himself a ticket to the 2008 Olympic games and/or appear on a Wheaties cereal box. But Jarrod made both those scenarios come true and he chatted with Slowtwitch before the ITU Worlds in Vancouver.

Laura Bennett was the first American to capture a spot on the Olympic triathlon team with her 3rd place at the 2007 ITU World Cup in Beijing. We got to see her golden smile a few times more often as she had indeed a great racing year. Meet Laura Bennett.

Swiss triathlete Ronnie Schildknecht won the 2008 Ironman 70.3 Switzerland after battling Germany’s Konstantin Bacher throughout. In the women’s race Britain’s Julie Dibens had her hands full with Swiss Nicola Spirig but ended up winning it on the run.

Terenzo Bozzone had to reel in Chris Lieto with a fantastic 1:14:18 run split to win the 2008 Ironman 70.3 Boise, after Lieto had posted the fastest bike split of the day. Kate Major looked solid all day as she captured the women’s title.

Chris McCormack used a super fast bike split to win the 2008 Hawaii 70.3 triathlon. Sam McGlone won the women’s event over Tyler Stewart.

At the 2008 Ironman 70.3 Florida Lindsey Jerdonek seemingly came out of nowhere to finish as the top age grouper and in 8th place overall. The 23 year old actually just recently stumbled upon triathlon and it appears that we will see her name in the results more often.

Alistair Brownlee is part of a new generation of triathletes coming through and he is truly someone to keep an eye on. The 20 year old is in his rookie ITU Elite season and just took another podium spot at the World Cup race in Madrid. He talked to Slowtwitch.

This is the third article in our series on nutritional supplements testing and certification programs. The author is Jonathan Toker, an elite-level triathlete and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry.

22 year old Vanessa Fernandes from Portugal is the current ITU World Champion and has already won more ITU World Cup events than any other person in history. She is a clear favorite for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing and she was kind enough to share a few of her thoughts.

Our series on race directing continues with a nod to the budget. What will your race cost? Here is a list of things you’ll not want to forget.

Eduardo Sturla had a convincing win and the fastest bike split at the Brazil Ironman Florianopolis 2008 after a relatively slow swim with two broken bones in his right hand. 44 year old Fernanda Keller won the women’s race on her home turf and will now return to Kona for the 21st consecutive time.

In front of an enthusiastic rain soaked home crowd, Javier Gomez won the 2008 Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup, the 200th in ITU history. With this victory he joined Brad Beven, Hamish Carter and Simon Whitfield as men with 10 World Cup titles to their names.

The 2007 World Champion Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal won the 2008 Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup and with it became the ITU all-time world cup win leader. The race was the 20th win for 22-year old Fernandes in just 31st World Cup starts.

Massimo Cigana caught long time race leader Björn Andersson in the last few hundred yards of the 2008 Ironman 70.3 Austria and earned the win with a very impressive run split. Yvonne Van-Vlerken took the title in the women’s race.

Bert Jammaer utilized a great swim, a very solid bike and a steady run to win the 2008 Ironman Lanzarote Canarias. Bella Comerford on the other hand had to use her magical running skills to reel in long time race leader Tara Norton enroute to winning the title in the women’s race.

In the old old days of cycling (when I was 25 or so), everything was made of steel and forged aluminum. Back then we needed torque wrenches. In today’s age of carbon, you really need a torque wrench.

Danish ITU athlete Rasmus Henning had a great season in 2007 and earned a nice $200,000 paycheck when he won the Hy-Vee race in Des Moines, IA. Rasmus already earned his ticket to Beijing and has his eyes now set completely on the Olympic prize.