Earlier this week, we asked readers to pick who they felt was the breakout athlete of the women’s WTCS season in 2022. After an overwhelming influx of support from Spain, the choice was clear: Miriam Casillas Garcia.
Of the five names we suggested, Casillas Garcia was the only athlete to not win a medal in 2022. However, what should not be overlooked is her tremendous consistency.
Casillas Garcia had her best ever finish in the WTCS with a 5th place in Cagliari. In addition, she was a regular in the top-10, including at WTCS Leeds, WTCS Yokohama, WTCS Bermuda and the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi.
Altogether, that saw her produce an overall performance of 10th in the WTCS, which was her best Series finish to date.
Over the past 12 months, Casillas Garcia has quietly proven herself as one of the best runners in the sport. In both of her most recent two WTCS appearances (in Bermuda and Abu Dhabi) she recorded run splits in the top-5 of the field.
In the end, her margin of victory in this poll was comprehensive, and she was picked by over 75% of voters.
Second in the vote was Emma Lombardi. Lombardi had a superlative season. She was the youngest athlete in the top-20 in the WTCS and was one of only two women born this century to finish in the top-50 in the world.
Lombardi won her first WTCS medal in Cagliari after finishing 4th on debut in Yokohama. She then capped off her season with a strong top-10 finish in Abu Dhabi.
Taking third place in the poll was Lena Meißner. Meißner won her first ever WTCS medal in Abu Dhabi after an impressive performance that saw her make a select breakaway. That came only three weeks after her previous best WTCS finish of 10th place in Bermuda. After she grew stronger and stronger over the course of the 2022 season, big things can be expected of Meißner in 2023.
Only one vote behind Meißner was Beth Potter. Potter won the most medals of anyone suggested in the poll, with a silver and two bronzes. She also had the rare distinction of medalling over all three distances raced in 2022.
To a degree, Potter was impacted by almost a lack of surprise in her performances. She has been steadily improving for years and had WTCS top-10s to her name before 2022. This season has perhaps been more of a confirmation of her talent than a breakout.
The final athlete in our poll was Lisa Tertsch. Tertsch took her first WTCS medal with a bronze in Hamburg. Across the rest of the season, she struggled a little for consistency.
Each of the five women listed had breakthrough WTCS seasons in their own right and it be will be great to see how they progress next year.
