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By rights, it should be hers.
Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria looks to be on the verge of fulfilling a lifetime ambition by qualifying for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics after injuries and illness denied her Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
The two-year qualification period ended Saturday with Sweetland 32nd in the final World Series race in Yokohama, Japan, to finish as the top Canadian in 48th place overall with 3,155 Olympic qualifying points. The women鈥檚 Olympic triathlon field in Rio will comprise 55 competitors. That looks to be fair and square qualification for the 27-year-old Islander.
Sweetland鈥檚 two-year qualification period, however, has been front-loaded, with many of her points accumulated in some big race results in 2014, before illness caused by a serious bacterial infection laid her low for much of the past year.
The final Olympic team roster decision is up to the discretion of Victoria-based Triathlon sa国际传媒. Sweetland looks to have stated her case well enough to hear the samba beat growing louder.
鈥淚 definitely started stronger than I finished, but I hope I鈥檝e done enough to prove I鈥檓 healthy,鈥� Sweetland said from Yokohama. 鈥渟a国际传媒 has earned three starts for the women at Rio. So that helps my chances a lot.
鈥淲e should know internally next week and then after the appeals window has closed, the COC [Canadian Olympic Committee] will confirm June 9. There鈥檚 definitely room for improvement, but, hopefully, the selectors believe in me enough to give me the chance to do it.鈥�
If they do, Sweetland will finally become an Olympian, and join a list of Rio-bound Island athletes that could number near 50.
Amelie Kretz of Blainville, Que., made a big bid for Olympic selection by placing eighth Saturday in Yokohama. Sarah-Anne Brault also gave the selectors something to think about with her 13th-place finish. Dominika Jamnicky of Guelph, Ont., was 30th, Sweetland 31st and Paula Findlay of Edmonton 32nd. World No. 1 Gwen Jorgensen of the U.S. won the race.
鈥淢y race result was pretty much as expected,鈥� Sweetland said. 鈥淲ith only one month of proper training, and so much time off, I never expected to be near the front, although I did have a better swim than expected and was positioned well for the run, which will come with time.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to back up two races in a row, especially after Mexico [last week, where Sweetland placed 12th]. So all things considered, I鈥檓 happy with what I was able to do these past two weeks, given the circumstances.鈥�
Brault moved to 54th overall in the Olympic qualification standards with 3,032 points and Kretz to 63rd with 2,524. Olympian and former world No. 1 Findlay is 67th with 2,428, Jamnicky is 94th, Joanna Brown of Carp, Ont., 118th, Alexandra Coates of Calgary 121st, Victoria-based Ellen Pennock of Calgary 173rd, Karol-Ann Roy of Laval, Que., 193rd, Allison Hooper of Victoria and Elisabeth Boutin of St. Lazare, Que., tied for 207th and Emy Legault of Lile-Perrot, Que., 245th.
The final results will be corrected to include only three per country who can race in Rio. The U.S., Britain, Australia and Germany have more than three in the top-55, meaning the Canadians will move up a few spots.
Tyler Mislawchuk of Oak Bluff, Man., was top male Canadian at Yokohama in 10th place with Andrew Yorke of Caledon, Ont., 18th and Michael Lori of Tecumseh, Ont., 39th. Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., did not finish. World No. 1 Mario Mola of Spain was the winner. The results left Yorke 42nd, Mislawchuk 48th and Jones 56th as the top three Canadians in the overall Olympic qualification standings. Matt Sharpe of Victoria is 201st. There will be 55 men in the Olympic race at Rio.
