Courtesy: USAT

Elite triathlete Hunter Kemper ended a nine-year dry spell for the U.S. men by winning the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup race on Sunday in Madrid, Spain.

Kemper (Longwood, Fla.), a resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., won the first World Cup of his career - and the first for a U.S. man since 1994 - finishing the hot and hilly, Olympic-distance course in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 2 seconds.

Kemper won a six-man sprint to the finish and beat second-place Volodymyr Polikarpenko (Ukraine) and third-place Craig Watson (New Zealand) by three seconds. Polikarpenko and Watson are listed with the same time, but Polikarpenko finished second.

Ivan Rana of Spain, the reigning world champion, finished fourth in 1:50:05.

"I've finally found the kick I've lacked in other sprint finishes," said Kemper, who was ranked ninth in the world going into the race. "I have never felt so good on the run... On the last lap, I even had time to find my wife in the crowd and wave to her."

Kemper's win is the first World Cup victory for a U.S. man since 1994, the first year of the World Cup series, when Wes Hobson won in Amakusa, Japan.

Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.) was the next U.S. finisher in 25th.

Sheila Taormina (Livonia, Mich.) was the top U.S. finisher in the women's race in seventh. Susan Williams (Denver, Colo.) was just behind in eighth and Becky Gibbs Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) finished 10th.

Venessa Fernandes of Portugal won the women's race in 1:59:31. Mariana Ohata of Brazil was second (1:59:41) and Pilar Hidalgo of Spain was third in 1:59:48.

Taormina, the top-ranked woman going into the race at No. 3 in the world, led the race out of the swim and rode with the front pack on the bike. She led the run for the first lap before falling back and finishing in 2:00:44.

Complete details and results are posted at www.triathlon.org.

The next ITU World Cup race will be Oct. 13 in Makuhari, Japan.

ITU World Cup
Sept. 21, 2003; Madrid Spain
1.5k swim (2 laps); 40k bike (5 laps); 10k run (4 laps)

Men
1. Hunter Kemper (Longwood, Fla.) 1:50:02; 2. Volodymyr Polikarpenko (Ukraine) 1:50:04; 3. Craig Watson (New Zealand) 1:50:04; 4. Ivan Rana (Spain) 1:50:05; 5. Daniel Unger (Germany) 1:50:05; 6. Fleureton Cedric (France) 1:50:06; 7. Reto Hug (Switzerland) 1:50:11; 8. Sven Riederer (Switzerland) 1:50:16; 9. Rasmus Henning (Denmark) 1:50:18; 10. Stephan Vuckovic (Germany) 1:50:34

Other U.S. Finishers 25. Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.); 28. Andy Kelsey (Cupertino, Calif.); 31. Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.); 48. Christoph O'Donnell (Cambridge, Mass.)

Women
1. Vanessa Fernades (Portugal) 1:59:32; 2. Mariana Ohata (Brazil) 1:59:41; 3. Pilar Hidalgo (Spain) 1:59:48; 4. Joelle Franzmann (Germany) 1:59:55; 5. Jodie Swallow (Great Britain) 1:59:56; 6. Emma Snowsill (Australia) 2:00:05; 7. Sheila Taormina (Livonia, Mich.) 2:00:44; 8. Susan Williams (Denver, Colo.) 2:01:00; 9. Melissa Ashton (Australia) 2:01:35; 10. Becky Gibbs Lavelle (Cupertino, Calif.) 2:01:44

Other U.S. Finishers 43. Kelly Rea (Marietta, Ga.); 44. Kelly Handel (Zionsville, Ind.); 46. Amanda Stevens (Enid, Okla.)