When we asked TriStats voters to pick their breakout male athlete of the 2022 season, we were not sure as to which man would win.
After a season in which multiple men have won their first WTCS medals and recorded breakthrough seasons, it was no mean feat to decide upon them.
Ultimately, Matthew Hauser of Australia was voted as the breakout man. While his winning margin was not as comprehensive as that of Miriam Casillas Garcia in the women’s poll, his final share of the vote was 36%.
Hauser had a great season in which he won his first WTCS medal by taking silver in Hamburg (2022). Prior to that, he finished 4th in Yokohama.
To finish his season, Hauser finished 5th in Abu Dhabi. In doing so, he dramatically denied Hayden Wilde a maiden world title by overtaking him on the last lap of the run.
Wilde was actually third in this poll, taking 18% of the vote. Prior to this year, he had not won a WTCS medal. Coming out of it, he now has four to his name, two of which are gold (from Leeds and Hamburg).
Nevertheless, there is a sense to which Wilde’s season was not an unexpected breakout. While it was certainly a breakthrough in his career, his Olympic bronze medal in 2021 meant that such performances were not as surprising as some of the other athletes in the poll. He may have won the most WTCS medals of any listed athlete, however the voters indicated that others had bigger breakouts.
Finishing second in the poll and ahead of Wilde was Lasse Lührs. The German took 26% of the vote after a fantastic season in which he won his first WTCS medal with a bronze in Leeds and then was pipped to a second bronze medal in Cagliari. Lührs went on to finish 9th in the overall WTCS, his first time in the top-10 of the Series.
The man that beat Lührs to bronze in Cagliari, Manoel Messias, came fourth in the poll. Messias took 14% of the vote and had a great season. Just behind him in the poll was Antonio Serrate Seone, who finished with 6%.
Whereas Messias and Lührs took bronze medals this season, Serrat Seoane took a silver in Bermuda. He has also been a model of consistency with numerous top-10 finishes.
