Aussie Olympic triathlon champ appeals omission

SYDNEY (AFP) –

Emma Snowsill, seen here in action during the Triathlon ITU World Championships, at Hyde Park in London, in 2010. Snowsill, defending Olympic champion, said on Tuesday she would appeal her omission from Australia’s team for next month’s London Games.

Defending Olympic triathlon champion Emma Snowsill said on Tuesday she would appeal her omission from Australia’s team for next month’s London Games.

Snowsill missed out on the three-strong women’s team after Emma Jackson and Erin Densham were chosen by Triathlon Australia to join early nomination Emma Moffatt in London.

“I will be appealing my non-nomination to the Australian Olympic team,” Snowsill said on her website.

“Please understand that I have not taken this decision lightly.

“I recognise that my decision affects people other than myself and I’m sorry for any hurt that my actions might cause, but I personally feel it is a matter of importance that I take all avenues available to me to achieve my dream of competing at a second Olympic Games.

“Whatever the outcome, I will attempt to take all endeavours to see that the process is resolved as quickly as possible to hopefully serve as small a disruption to the team’s preparation.”

Snowsill, who won Australia’s only Olympic triathlon gold medal in Beijing in 2008, has been hampered by illness and injury.

She has hardly raced over the past two years but had still looked likely to go to London early this year until Densham hit form.

Densham, 27, made strong claims for selection by winning the Mooloolaba World Cup in Queensland and Sydney world series races and finishing second in the San Diego round of the world series.

The appeal is likely to be heard by an independent three-person Olympic Appeals Tribunal later this week.