Potts emerged from the water in first place after the swim holding a 20 second lead and posting a time of 21:17. He was followed closely by teammates Brian Fleishmann and Jarrod Shoemaker who swam 21:37 and 21:38 and ranking fifth and sixth respectively.

All three men dropped back during the bike. With the lead evaporated, Potts ranked led Team USA ranked 11th after the bike with a time of 1:20:24. Shoemaker turned in a time of 1:20:27 (22nd) in the bike and Fleishmann’s 40 km bike time was 1:20:25.

The U.S. men gained ground in the run and Potts took the lead with about a mile to go passing Canadian Brent McMahon and Brazilian Juraci Moreira Junior.

“Following the bike, I wasn’t sure if a podium finish was possible. It wasn’t until about the last mile that I realized that a podium finish was possible – I just wasn’t sure where on the podium,” said Potts. “With a half-mile to go, I thought, ‘I really want this” and dug deep. Luckily I had the goods today.”

Potts commented that the water was a little choppy and that there was a deceptive wind on the bike course. “The only time I felt secure [with the gold medal] was on the carpet,” said Potts. “This competition was an important race for America because we are now guaranteed at least one spot on the team for the Olympic Games in Beijing.”

“The Brazilian crowd was fantastic. I knew Juraci was by me because the crowd went nuts. I really fed off their energy.”

Today’s medal is the second gold and third medal over all for the U.S. in Men’s Triathlon in Pan Am history. Overall, the U.S. leads the medal count in triathlon with seven.

Julie Ertel (Irvine, Calif.) won gold with a time of 1:57:23.21 and Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo./Colorado Springs, Colo.) notched the silver medal for the U.S. crossing the finish line 23 seconds later to finish 1-2 in today’s triathlon. Sara McLarty (Deland, Fla./Colorado Springs, Colo.) rounded out the competition for the United States with a 10th place finish and a time of 2:02:07.68, a little more than four minutes behind her teammates.

The three Americans led the pack emerging from the swim 1-2-3. McLarty, the strongest swimmer of the group, turned in a time of 18:13 followed by Haskins and Ertle and led the competition by 29 seconds heading into the bike.

The trio further distanced themselves from the race during the bike. Ertel, Haskins and McLarty formed the front pack and stretched their lead to more than 2 ½ minutes during the bike. Mexico’s Adriana Corona was the next competitor to finish the bike 2 minutes and 41 seconds behind the Americans.

In the run, Ertel and Haskins maintained the lead for the duration of the race.

“Today, we started off the run and we said let’s work together – let’s take turns, because our ultimate goal was to be up on the podium together,” said Haskins. “And ultimately I don’t think either one of us cared who’s up on top. We just wanted an American up on top of that podium.”

“The crowd here was absolutely spectacular. We first noticed it on the swim,” said Ertel. “I notice the crowd a lot particularly on the run. As your energy is being depleted, it’s great to feed off the crowd.”
Including today’s performance, the U.S. women have now tallied four medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) in triathlon in Pan Am history. Overall, the U.S. leads the medal count in triathlon with seven.

The Americans swept the gold medals in men’s and women’s triathlon and all six U.S. competitors finished in the top ten. Andy Potts garnered a gold medal with a time of 1:52:31.51 in the men’s competition. Teammates Jarrod Shoemaker (1:53:32.74) and Brian Fleishmann (1:53:37.36) finished sixth and eighth respectively.

The Americans swept the gold medals in men’s and women’s triathlon and all six U.S. competitors finished in the top ten.

By capturing the gold medal today, the U.S. team has secured a spot for the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.