It has been coming.
Like a gathering storm on the horizon, it was possible to see Anahi Alvarez Corral approach yet there was precious little anyone could do about it. At this point Alvarez’s ridiculous running speed has been well-established. She was disqualified at the St. Peters Americas Cup but logged the fastest run split of the day by a wide margin.
Silver medals followed at the Americas Cups in Punta Cana and Ixtapa; across those races only one woman has actually managed to out-split Alvarez on the run (Domnicky by 5 seconds in Punta Cana).
Already a silver medallist at the World Cup level from Valencia last year, when Alvarez arrived in Huatulco it seemed pertinent to ask. Would now be the moment the storm hit?
With air temperatures in the mid-30s and the water temperature over 30 (both Celsius), the heat posed a major challenge. However, for Alvarez it was home Mexican soil with plenty of local support to cheer her on.
The best chance the field had to deflect Alvarez was to tackle her in the swim.
To that effect, Yifan Yang of China took up the pace. With a smooth, controlled style, Yang crushed the field with a brutal pace. As she emerged from the water to run up the beach, she did so alone. Djenyfer Arnold was able to get the closest to the leader, but even she lost 4 seconds.
Pre-race favourites, Katie Zaferes and Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal sat further back, around 15 seconds behind. Ominously for them, Gwen Jorgensen was right on their feet. In a complete turnaround from her disappointing day at WTCS Cagliari, Jorgensen had a strong swim to put herself on the cusp of the lead group.
A few hard pedal turns on the bike then saw her end up at the front of the race.
Meanwhile, Alvarez lost a lot of time. She exited in 10:21, over 25 seconds behind Jorgensen and Zaferes and over 40 seconds behind Yang.
The lead pack therefore had their chance to push the pace and distance the speedy Mexican athlete. However, there was a curious lack of impetus amidst the leaders. Perhaps the pack was too large to properly organise. Zaferes was someone that could have been expected to push the pace but much of her joy on the bike this season has come from attacking alone.
With plenty of women on her wheel, and that number growing, she had no choice but to drag the pack along the first two laps. As a result, the door was opened for Alvarez. She eventually made up the deficit on the bike and settled into the front pack.
Charlotte McShane also rode in the lead group. After wins in Busselton and Subic Bay, she arrived in Huatulco on form and sat in a dangerous position.
A pack of over forty women therefore arrived into T2 together, turning the event into a running race. Notwithstanding the vaunted speed of Jorgensen, the recent WTCS success of Tapia and the form of McShane, there was one athlete that this outcome benefitted.
And within the early stages of the run, Hurricane Alvarez struck.
In a display of near-total dominance on foot, Alvarez ran to victory by 33 seconds. At no point in the run did anyone really look like they had an answer to her; she simply lit the match and watched the fireworks go off.
Jorgensen, Tapia and McShane put up a good fight in the early stages to limit the damage. Likewise, Jamnicky was in the mix and knew she had kept up with Alvarez before. Despite the class of the opposition, it ultimately came to naught.
Alvarez therefore took her first World Cup victory and, on the basis of her run in Huatulco, many more can be expected. To figure over the Olympic distance or in the WTCS, she will realistically have to patch her swim. However, on days like Huatulco, when her run finds its groove, she almost turns the rest of the race into an irrelevance.
As Alavrez ran up the road, the real competition took shape behind her.
Tapia and Jorgensen took up the pace and seemed comfortable. A third Mexican athlete, Mercedes Romero Orozco, was also well-positioned. Prior to Huatulco, Romero had not won a medal in 2023 so it remained to be seen how she would fare over the full 5km. In the opening kilometres, she nonetheless looked strong.
A fourth Mexican athlete, Lizeth Rueda Santos, also hung on the fringes of the group.
Into the final stages, though, Jorgensen injected a burst of speed that none could match. Tapia tried to go with her and seemed to pay for it while McShane and Romero hunted the former Olympic champion down.
Jorgensen’s move, though, was quick and decisive and she broke away to claim the silver medal. In doing so, she issued a riposte to the disappointment of Cagliari and showed she has plenty to offer. Indeed, Huatulco was her first world-level medal since starting her comeback. Step by step, she is working her way back to the top.
As Jorgensen crossed the line, the sprint finish fired into action behind her. By the slimmest of margins, Romero managed to lunge over the line ahead of McShane to make it two home athletes on the podium.
A year younger than Alvarez, Romero’s performance was hugely promising and she will be one to watch. For McShane, 4th was bittersweet but after a difficult spell there must have been satisfaction to have reasserted herself on the world stage.
Jamnicky took 5th place after losing out in the sprint finish.
You can view the full women’s results here.
