The Professional Triathletes Organisation has announced that Team Internationals’ Lionel Sanders and Team Europe’s Holly Lawrence have been awarded the Julie Moss Award… ‘for their courageous performances at The Collins Cup.’
The PTO notes that… ‘The Julie Moss Award is named after Julie Moss, whose performance at the 1982 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, in which she collapsed and crawled across the finish line, has come to signify the indomitable spirit of triathlon.
‘In many ways she is the inspiration of the PTO’s motto, ‘Dum Spiro Spero’, (‘Whilst I breathe, I hope’).’
PTO added that the many gutsy performances by elite triathletes at the Collins Cup made the award decision extremely difficult.
‘From Team Internationals’ Kyle Smith racing with one aerobar after crashing, to an unwell Daniela Ryf of Team Europe pushing herself on the run to earn three vital points. From the outstanding performance by American Chelsea Sodaro barely six months after the arrival of her baby Skye, to the mad sprint by Team Internationals’ Jackson Laundry in the final two kilometres to win his match, the day was filled with grit and determination.
‘But the performances of Sanders and Lawrence particularly captivated the fans and showcased the meaning of The Collins Cup.’
Canadian Lionel Sanders, the ‘spiritual leader of Team Internationals’, arrived at the event having finished second at IRONMAN Copenhagen only six days before. Sanders not only competed PTO’s flagship event on just six days rest from a full distance race, but he then rose from the pavement after a bike crash to win his match against Europe’s Sebastian Kienle and USA’s Andrew Starykowicz.
Simon Whitfield, Olympic Gold Medal winner and Team Internationals Captain, said “There is literally no way to describe Lionel Sanders. You can exhaust your thesaurus with words like relentless, indomitable, unyielding, driven, inexorable, and never come close to describing what Lionel Sanders is or does.
“You can only conclude it is beyond the realm of human comprehension. In everything the man does he lives his mantra to have ‘no limits’. It was an honour to be his captain and experience his passion and spirit.”
For the women, Europe’s Holly Lawrence raced head to head notably against rival Ellie Salthouse from Team Internationals. The elite women battled side-by-side for every stroke of the swim, colliding numerous times as each refused to yield a centimetre.
Lawrence led on the bike until disaster struck, and she crashed not far from T-2. Bloodied, she rose immediately to continue the fight, but her damaged bike took almost five minutes to repair as she waited helplessly.
She watched both Salthouse and USA’s Skye Moench pass her and saw her chance to win the match evaporate. Bike repaired but spirit unbroken, she rode into transition to a standing ovation. With no chance to win her match, PTO noted that she nonetheless persevered in the run and denied Team USA and Team International bonus points, thus helping Team Europe to victory.
Natascha Badmann, Team Europe Captain, said “Holly Lawrence’s performance was an inspiration to our team. We had already lost points in match #1 with the tremendous performance of USA’s Taylor Knibb.
“If Holly was not able to continue, we would have lost an additional 1-1/2 points. With grit and determination, she battled back to deny both Team USA and Team Internationals 1-1/2 vital points. This did not go unnoticed by the fans and the rest of Team Europe, who were not prepared to see Holly’s effort be in vain.”
