Chrissie Wellington continued her winning ways at the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship in the Netherlands. The event, held yesterday in Almere consisted of a 4km swim, 120 km bike and a 30km run.

The British long distance star took gold for her first elite ITU world championship title. Wellington also became the third straight British woman to win the event after Leanda Cave won in 2007 and Bella Comerford in 2006. Denmark’s Charlotte Kolters took the silver while Dutch favourite Yvonne van Vlerken delighted the home crowds with the bronze.

This result again reaffirms Wellington’s position as the worlds leading female long distance triathlete and bodes well for the defence of her Hawaii World Championship crown.

In the men’s field Julien Loy of France successfully defended his title, becoming just the third man to win back-to-back ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships. Loy anchored a gold-silver finish for France as Francois Chabaud was runner-up. The French men nearly duplicated last year’s sweep of the podium but Martin Jensen of Denmark beat Sebastien Berlier to the line for the bronze.

Great Britain’s Paul Ambrose finished a commendable ninth on his ITU debut.

If Chrissie continues in her winning ways for the remainder of the year she must surely be nominated for BBC’s Sports Personality of the year for 2008. She has achieved so much in such a short period of time and is a true champion of long distance triathlon throughout the world.

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