2012 Photo of the Year Week One Result

09 November, 2012 | español

With such a large amount of stunning imagery, opinions and votes were pretty divided this week. In the end the week’s winner in the photo of the year series received 26% of the votes, just beating out Steffen Justus’ emphatic celebration at the finish line (21%), as well as the men’s colourful dive start (20%). The photo shows Bevan Docherty and Simon Whitfield flexing their muscles after the Sydney ITU World Triathlon Series race.

Check out with photographer Delly Carr had to say about the winning pic.

“I love this image because the humour says a lot to me. Docherty and Whitfield, the two ‘elders’ of Triathlon, still showed that they can mix it with the young guns during the Sydney race. But then I watched them as they came into the recovery area, they sat down next to each other like old mates, and talked about life and their young families. And they laughed a lot. But when they saw me point the camera at them, their competitiveness spirit came out by ‘showing me their guns’. It says a lot about the athletes of Triathlon .... athletes in mind, but friends by heart.”

Camera: Nikon D4
Lens: Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
Exposure: ASA 200 , 1/500sec

Both Docherty and Whitfield were locked in a tight Olympic qualification battle with every position crucial. While both were trying to earn their spots from their National Federations, they were also trying to secure the vital third man spot for their country. In Whitfield’s case he was the third ranked Canadian and it was all on the line. For a finish Docherty opened the WTS season with 12th place, while Whitfield took 18th. Read the full breakdown after that thrilling race here.

Did you agree? Let us know your thoughts below. Check back on triathlon.org Monday when we unveil the finalists for the San Diego WTS and you can have your say again.