Through wind and rain, snow and hail ... ah, forget about the mail.

A trip to the Olympics was at stake, so thunderstorms and everything else that Mother Nature threw at the ITU World Cup field, especially the four Canadians vying for one final berth to the Summer Games, wasn't going to stand in anybody's way.

It sure made life difficult for the whole group racing their way along the River Valley and Hawrelak Park course yesterday, but somehow they managed - no one more so than Samantha McGlone.

McGlone caught up with Sharon Donnelly in front of the grandstand on the final run lap, darted past her and claimed the third and last Canadian women's team spot for the Olympics. McGlone placed 11th overall, one place ahead of Donnelly, beating her to the finish line by 40 seconds.

"I kind of like the rough weather. I'm a real Canadian. I don't mind a bit of hail in July," smiled McGlone, shivering in a tent after her race as the rain and hail that eventually forced a cancellation of the men's race poured down.

Loretta Harrop, who was badly scuffed up when she crashed her bike on the same course three years ago, won the yesterday's race, holding off fellow Aussie Rina Hill in a sprint to the tape. Harrop crossed in 1:58.11 with Hill a mere second back.

New Zealand's Samantha Warriner was third in 1:59.04, finishing ahead of Kiwi Evelyn Williamson and two more Aussies - Melanie Mitchell and Pip Taylor.

BROKE AWAY FROM PACK

McGlone chose to break away from a chase pack during the bike stage - a move that made all the difference in her eventual rundown of Donnelly and clearly separated her from the other two Canuck Olympic hopefuls, Natasha Filliol (14th, 2:02.19) and Lauren Groves (18th, 2:04.06).

"I thought I might be able to run her down but until that last lap I wasn't sure," said McGlone, whose wise decision closed the gap on Donnelly by more than a minute.

"On that last hill I really made a surge and I brought the gap down enough. When I went by her, I felt pretty confident I could hold her off till the end.

STRONG ON THE BIKE

"I knew I had to be strong on the bike, I'm not a great swimmer. About halfway through the bike, I realized 'You know, this is the Olympics. I've got to go for it. If I blow up or I don't catch her, at least I gave it a shot.'

"I saw Simon Whitfield cheering on the last lap and he was like 'Go get it.'

"His Olympic finish just flashed in my head and I was just so inspired and it worked out. I keep having to remind myself that I'm an Olympian."

For Donnelly, the dream of getting back to a second Summer Games died despite coming out of the swim stage in the lead group.

"When you finish, you feel it's just another race and then you see your family and friends," Donnelly offered as she fought back tears. "I knew it at the end and then I saw them and that's probably the worst feeling.

"I like Sam and I'm happy for her. She's brought her racing up tremendously. I just ran out of room."

Jill Savege, who will lead the Canadian women's charge in Greece with Carol Montgomery, was suitably impressed by McGlone's gutsy performance.

"Fantastic. She's really come on this year, put her heart and soul into her training," said Savege, who placed 10th yesterday.

"She's really improved her run and she risked it, went for it and she had a phenomenal run.

"We have a great team. We're all keen to show our country proud and be there with Simon leading the way.

''Hopefully we'll do the same as Simon did. I think we have definitely medal contentions between both teams."