Sydney, Opera House forecourt, 17 September 2000, Games of the XXVII Olympiad: Simon WHITFIELD of Canada, gold medallist, at the finish line of the triathlon event.

Born: 16 May 1975

Birthplace: Kingston (Canada)

Nationality: Canada

Sport: Triathlon

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Sydney 2000

Athens 2004

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 1

Other results:

Commonwealth Games

Gold: 1 (02)

Pan American Games

Bronze: 1 (99)

Earning his place in encyclopedias

When Simon Whitfield was younger, he decided that someday he wanted to be included in the Encyclopedia Britannica. He realized that for an athlete to be included, he would have to be the best in the world in something. Whitfield, who had joint Canadian-Australian citizenship, was not one of the favorites at the Olympics. He was ranked thirteenth in the world and had not won a triathlon in a year. But while training at the Olympic Village, he was amazed at how fit he felt. Conrad Stoltz of South Africa and world champion Olivier Marceau of France broke away from the field during the fifth of six bike laps and opened up a lead of almost a minute. On that same lap, a 15-man crash occurred and Whitfield was forced to put his foot down and skid to a stop. He began the 10km run in 24th place. Stoltz faded while Marceau held on for six kilometers, before being passed by Stephan Vuckovic of Germany. Whitfield, who had gradually moved his way up through the field, caught Vuckovic, but with 1'000m to go, the German opened up a lead of almost 25m. Whitfield cut the gap in half and then began his final sprint with 450m left. He passed Vuckovic about 200m from the finish line and won easily. At the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, Simon Whitfield finished in 11th place.