Year: 2023

What Were The Big Talking Points From WTCS Hamburg 2023?

Benjamin Eastman

With so many different races taking place at WTCS Hamburg, there were plenty of talking points to take away from the event. Among the standouts were Hayden Wilde’s magnificent victory in which he beat Alex Yee in the WTCS for the first time. In a display in which he rolled tactical nous, blistering speed and an inordinate amount of grit into one, there is not a lot more to say about Wilde’s performance beyond that it was pretty special. In the women’s event, Beaugrand strolled to her third WTCS win…

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Cassandre Beaugrand Eases To Victory At WTCS Hamburg

Benjamin Eastman

WTCS victories are supposed to look a little more difficult than that. From the moment she dove into the Binnenalster in the qualifier to the second she crossed the line to seal her triumph in the final, Cassandre Beaugrand hardly looked out of breath. The three rounds of the final ultimately amounted to little more than a procession as the field struggled to find an answer to the French star. To open the first round, Laura Lindemann shot out into a lead in the swim. Not only had the German star…

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Wilde Gets Monkey Off His Back With Hamburg Win

Benjamin Eastman

Across two days of racing, the temptation was to look for the subtle clues into an athlete’s condition. Who looked good? Who did not? Such was the shadow-boxing throughout the competition, the answers were not fully apparent. In the last round of the men’s final, Hayden Wilde reached for the megaphone on the streets of Hamburg and left no question whatsoever about his capabilities. Thirty men lined up to contest the first of the three rounds. Racing over the same Super Sprint course as the qualifiers and repechage, the last…

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Olympic Spots On The Line At Hamburg Mixed Team Relay Champs

Benjamin Eastman

The Mixed Team Relay in Hamburg will acquire a special importance this year. Alongside being the World Championship for the discipline, it represents the final chance to automatically qualify a team for the Paris Olympic Games. Under the qualification procedure for next year’s Olympics, the hosts receive two male and two female slots, entitling them to start in the relay. As hosts, France thus already have their places secured. With that in mind, they have opted against sending a relay to Hamburg. Even if they had not earned the slots,…

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Home Win For Germany In U23-Junior Mixed Team Relay

Benjamin Eastman

Expectations were high for an accomplished German team to deliver before a home crowd at the World U23/Junior Mixed Team Relay Championships. Their intent was clear for Germany was one of several teams to pack their relay exclusively with U23 athletes in their quest for the gold. As Juniors are technically under the age of 23, perhaps the event was more aptly described as a case of U23 and very U23 athletes. Australia, Japan and USA were the only teams to completely consist of Juniors while several countries, such as…

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What Went Down At The 2023 WTCS Hamburg Repechages

Benjamin Eastman

Those not fortunate enough to earn automatic qualification to the finals of WTCS Hamburg returned to the course on Friday evening for the repechages. While the top-10 finishers from each qualifier were tucked away, recovering in their hotel room, they remaining athletes lined up on the pontoon. Both the route and the start lists were the same as the morning. A Super Sprint course awaited (300m swim, 7.5km bike, 1.75km run) while those from Qualifier 1 raced Repechage 1 and so forth. After a couple of big names, including Summer…

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Who’s Hot and Who’s Not After the WTCS Hamburg Heats

Benjamin Eastman

With the heats concluded at WTCS Hamburg, attention will now turn to the repechages and then the finals. Ahead of the next stages, it is time to cast an eye over the qualifiers and assess which athletes looked good and which ones flew under the radar. In some cases, cases can be made for athletes looking in a position to win the entire event. In other cases, there are some athletes that looked like they simply used the heats as a warm up and will show their true hand in…

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Potter and Beaugrand Lead Women’s WTCS Hamburg Heats

Benjamin Eastman

Following the men’s qualifiers at WTCS Hamburg, it was the turn of the women. The same Super Sprint course consisting of a 300m swim, 7.5km bike and 1.75km run awaited and, while the pre-race favourites were for the most part comfortable in sealing their passage to the final, there were a couple of big names that slipped into the repechage. Qualifier 1 Vittoria Lopes was superlative in the water as she led the way in a time of 3:55. In her last WTCS outing, she led the swim in Montreal…

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Men’s Favourites Make It Safely Through Hamburg Qualifiers

Benjamin Eastman

The rude awakening of the alarm had barely been shaken off by the time to the first men’s qualifier lined the pontoon at WTCS Hamburg. Racing at an unorthodox 8am, a bracing dip in the Binnenalster promised to wake everyone up. With the prospect of a royal rumble under the bridge, it was best to be alert. All that mattered, though, was securing a place in the top-10. That would earn automatic qualification into Saturday’s final and avoid having to return later in the day for a repechage. With a…

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It’s a Family Thing: Batista Brothers Make Triathlon History

Benjamin Eastman

When Joao Nuno Batista crossed the line in Hamburg, he did not simply become the World Junior champion. He became an integral half of an achievement never seen before in triathlon. Along with his elder brother, Ricardo, Batista became one half of the first pair of brothers to win the World Junior Championships. Ricardo Batista claimed his title in 2019 at the World Junior Championships in Lausanne. Like his younger brother, he claimed his victory on the back of a sensational running split. By a quirk of history, Ricardo’s field-leading…

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Talking Points From The 2023 World Junior Champs

Benjamin Eastman

After an evening of barnstorming racing, the new World Junior champions have been crowned. Ilona Hadhoum was in awesome form on her way to victory, clocking the best swim and run splits of the field. Similarly, Joao Nuno Batista won the men’s race after a balanced performance in which he was among the ten fastest swimmers and then detonated the quickest run of the day. Being born in 2005, Batista will be eligible to defend his title next year. Based on yesterday’s showing, he will be a formidable prospect for…

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The Splits Breakdown Of The 2023 World Junior Champs

Benjamin Eastman

Swim The women’s swim was all about Ilona Hadhoum. The newly-crowned World Junior champion led the way with a fantastic split of 9:51. In doing so, she established a commanding lead set herself up perfectly for the rest of the race. The next closest athlete was Tabea Huys of Austra in a time of 10:11. Having led out the swim at the European Cup in Kitzbühel, Huys’ class in the water was no surprise. However, she did not quite have the answer to Hadhoum’s pace in Hamburg. Margareta Vrablova was…

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Batista Seals World Junior Title After Dramatic Finale

Benjamin Eastman

With only a few more brush strokes, a handful of men could have painted a masterpiece at the World Junior Championships. One by one, though, each fell agonisingly short. In the end, one man managed to apply the finishing golden touches and in doing so he produced something spectacular. Although the opening salvo in the 750m swim did little to break up the field, two men emerged at the head of the pack. Carter Stuhlmacher had been a dominant force in Junior racing in the Americas. His Hungarian contemporary, Márton…

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Ilona Hadhoum Soars To World Junior Title In Hamburg

Benjamin Eastman

Anxious faces gazed out across the Binnenalster as the wait for the women’s World Junior Championships continued. Some jumped on the spot, some kept as many layers on as possible, some rehearsed taking their marks. Amid a dazzling array of talent, the size of the occasion was greater than anything seen previously in the Junior ranks this season. The gold medal dangled ahead of the athletes. All they had to do was seize it. Once the race finally got under way, it was Tabea Huys that nipped into an early…

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No Fighting: The Lessons Of The WTCS Hamburg Course

Benjamin Eastman

As noted in the cheat sheets for WTCS Hamburg, the racing will take place over a Super Sprint distance as opposed to the more traditional Sprint course. On what was already a tight route on narrow streets, there will be several precarious spots. The biggest talking point is the swim. Hamburg is notorious for what happens under the bridge during the first discipline. Under the cover of darkness, there is plenty of contact, some of it unintentional, some of it not. With the athletes due to spend around a quarter…

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