So, just over a month later, the Age Group results from the Vancouver World Championships are published. Well, sort of...

As highlighted both this week by JetSetSuperVet, and myself at the time in my Vancouver diary, this year's World Champs, despite being held in the home of the ITU was, to be blunt, not one of the best. While the weather played a part, the inability to measure or seemingly attempt to measure the swim courses for both elite juniors and age group sprint (as in, got it wrong twice), cannot be put down to conditions or blamed on tides. In the case of the Sprint, it was simply impossible to EVER produce a course even close to 750m, between two points at least 1km apart, and we couldn't even swim in a direct route!

The lack of any form of finishers medal seemed strange to many, and the results taking over a month (with transition times apparently lost for the standard distance), for an event everyone paid significantly more for than the ITU-set limit, is not a great way to close the door on Vancouver 2008.

The full results can be found here

Here is the full ITU press release:

At long last, age-group results from the Vancouver BG Triathlon World Championships have been posted on triathlon.org. As of now, all sprint categories and men's Olympic distance results are up. Some of the women's Olympic distance results have been posted and will be finalized as soon as possible. It has taken hundreds of tedious hours for race officials to manually process more than 2500 entries.

The results problems, which stemmed from the complexity of the course coupled with challenging race day conditions, were of great concern and not forgotten. The event organizing committee, ITU and the timing company sincerely apologize for the lengthy delay and endeavour to never allow this at a world championship ever again. The patience and understanding from all athletes is greatly appreciated.

Many questions have also arisen about the cancelled swim for many waves in the age-group Olympic distance races. It was evident with the strong winds the swim became dangerous and lifeguards asked race officials to suspend the heats as they felt they couldn't manage the course even with the 25 guards they had in position.

The surf added a challenge for the lifeguards and swim team. Swimmers were being pushed towards the shore where dangerous rock hazards made it problematic for both swimmers and rescue boats. An inordinate number of athletes were requiring rescue from the cold water. When many rescue craft left the course to ferry hypothermia victims to shore, it over-extended the effectiveness and ability for the lifeguards to save lives.

Other swim options were discussed but nothing could be found due to the underwater geography/hazards. The swim was manned beyond what is required for events such as these. The triple threat of temperature, surf and underwater hazards in unison caused the problems. The decision, though unpopular for some, was the right decision under the circumstances. Members of ITU's Medical Committee who were on hand at the event agreed the right decision was to cancel. It's unfortunate it occurred at a world championship.