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OkillSportsSPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2011 31Setbacks behind Oakville triathlete,rivals now have to keep up with JonesBy Herb Garbutthis girlfriend Kelly just after Christmas.OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFFJones resumed training with fellow national teammembers in January at a training camp in Hawaii butFor more than three years, Kyle Jones had suffered a week in, he crashed on his bike. Though it didntsevere abdominal pain and numbness in his left leg. hinder training too much, it turned out that JonesAt times, it forced him to withdraw from races, but had a broken wrist, which was only discovered aftermost times he simply fought through it, though it he and teammate Jon Bird collided in the pool duringobviously impacted his results when racing against a warmup, a run-in that added two broken bones inthe best triathletes in the world.his hand to his list of setbacks.The source of the problem remained a mystery The decision was made to sit out the opening racesuntil he went to the doctor last year and had a CT of the season but as a result, Jones dropped down thescan that revealed a 90 per cent blockage International Triathlon Union rank-in the main artery carrying blood to his ings, far enough that he wouldnt gainI want to prove left leg.automatic entry into the higher profilemyself at the nextThe radiologist that read the images World Championship Series races laterlevel and this lasthad a hard time believing I could run in the season.trip set me up well without severe pain in my left leg, let All in all, it was hardly the start toalone run at all, Jones wrote in his blog moving forward.the season he had been hoping for.on his website last June. ? ? ? Hopefully I'll be The Oakville native carried on with When Jones set off late last month onable to look back at his season but over the next few months a three-week trek that included triathlonsthis as a steppingthe problem continued to get worse. At in Mexico, China and Japan, the objectivestone to biggerthe end of the season, he visited another was simple earn as many points as pos-doctor in Holland, who recommended things.sible to improve his ranking.surgery.Jones came out of the water at the H Kyle Jones after win-e returned home and had more Ixtapa Pan American Cup in Mexico inning three straight ITU tests performed. His left common iliac 19th place, though still within strikingracesartery was, as Jones described it, kinked distance of the leaders. By the end of thelike a garden hose, preventing normal bike course, he had moved up to sixth andblood flow to his leg.was at the front of the pack by the first kilometer of theIt was not so much a health issue. I could have 10-kilometre run. Jones and American Manny Huertalived a healthy life without the surgery but to com-put distance between themselves and the rest of thepete at a high level, I needed it, Jones said from field. With two kilometres remaining, Jones made hisVictoria, where he trains with the national team. move and pulled away, winning by 33 seconds.There were risks involved but when it came down to It was definitely a good feeling to cross the finishseeing results back at 100 per cent or maybe not rac-TRIATHLON TRIPLE: Kyle Jones won his first International Triathlonline. It felt like it was a long time coming, said Jones,ing again, it was an easy decision.Union race in Mexico late last month. Within two weeks, he had his second andwhose previous best international result was a fourthThe surgeon removed the kink and used a vein third career victories. In a season that began with Jones on the sidelines followingplace finish at the Pan Am Games. It was more of afrom Jones foot to reconstruct the artery. It was six surgery last fall, he is making up for lost time and hopes to represent Canada atrelief. Ive always known I could do it.weeks before Jones could resume any kind of exercise, the 2012 Olympics in London, England.Eight days later Jones was in Japan for the See Three, page 32recovering in time to take a walk down the aisle with