The 30-year-old’s finishing time of 1:44:31 was 1:13 off the pace of winner Daniel Unger of Germany, who out-sprinted world no. 1 Javier Gomez of Spain, much to the delight of the hometown German fans. Australian Brad Kahlefeldt rounded out the podium in 1:43:36.

“It was a hard day. Unfortunately I picked a hard sport to try to be good at. I gave it my best shot. I controlled what I could control, that was a decent tempo on the bike, and hopefully I strung something out on the swim,” said Potts. “My number one priority on the run was to just stay in contact with the lead group and to run tough and hold on for as long as possible. I was hoping my legs would have more juice in them on the second and third laps. I’m not disappointed, I’m not elated. I came here to test myself, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Matt Reed (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was the only other U.S. athlete among the top-20, finishing 14th in 1:44:55. Tim O’Donnell (Shavertown, Pa. / Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished 43rd in 1:46:35, Joe Umphenour (Bellevue, Wash. / Colorado Springs, Colo.) was 52nd in 1:48:12, Mark Fretta (Portland, Ore.) was 54th in 1:48:23, and Jarrod Shoemaker was 56th in 1:48:54.

Potts was his usual self on the swim, leading the pack out of the water – with a split of 17:02 – and out onto the bike, where the majority of the competitors soon found themselves in a large lead pack weaving through the streets of Hamburg. A few athletes tried to break away from the group – including O’Donnell – but were soon reeled in. Unfortunately for Shoemaker and Fretta, they found themselves in a group that couldn’t keep pace with the leaders and fell more than three minutes back heading out on the run.

Potts was with the leaders early on the run, but fell off the pace of a strong group that included the final podium, as well as William Clarke (Great Britain), Simon Whitfield (Canada), and Jan Frodeno (Germany).

The result for Potts matched his previous best finish which he accomplished in Madeira, Spain in 2004. The 2007 Pan American Games gold medalist finished 18th last year in Lausanne, Switzerland. This was his fourth world’s appearance.

American men have earned just two world championship medals since the event began in 1989, the last coming in 2001.

NEXT UP: Beijing World Cup – September 15.
Potts, Shoemaker, and Reed will join fellow Americans Hunter Kemper, Doug Friman, and Brian Fleischmann as they race for the first spot up for grabs on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. As a test event for the 2008 Games, Beijing will feature the majority of the athletes competing at today’s world championship.

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