After a hectic day of racing through qualifiers, repechages and semi-finals, twelve women took to the start line in the final of the inaugural Lievin World Cup. Any lingering weariness from the earlier rounds, though, was swiftly set aside as the athletes tore into the race.
Zuzana Michalickova made the most of the 150m (25m pool) swim. The Slovakian athlete powered into a considerable lead in no time at all. She would officially lead out in 1:43, although her actual swim time was closer to 1:35 (the timing split was not taken at the wall).
As Michalickova jumped ahead, Jolien Vermeylen took up the task of chasing her. Vermeylen had been in an outside lane in the swim and may have seen Michalickova’s lead a little too late in the water. Nevertheless, she flew through the early lap of the bike and ate into Michalickova’s lead.
A top-10 finish at the Hong Kong World Cup a week prior had marked Michalickova out as a threat. On the opening lap of the 3km bike, it almost looked like she would solo to victory. Alas, it was not to be as the field came back together.
Vermeylen, Cathia Schär and Lena Meißner took some big turns as eleven of the finalists came together in the front pack. However, Gwen Jorgensen, a four time World Cup winner in 2023, was left behind a little in T1 and rode alone. While the rest of the field subsequently rode together, the American athlete dangled for most of the bike off the back of the group.
At the front, there was little scope to attack and the likes of Georgia Taylor-Brown and Leonie Periault tucked in behind Laura Lindemann and Schär. Then, in the final couple of laps, the pack slowed and Jorgensen latched onto the final wheel. Almost as quickly as the pack had slowed, though, the pace ramped up again as Schär pounced in the final straight to get a lead into T2.
The Swiss athlete then nailed her transition and found herself separated from the gold medal by merely five 200m run laps.
Taylor-Brown and Jorgensen fared the worst in T2 and were among the last to make it onto the run. Within half a lap, though, Taylor-Brown was towards the front. However, Jorgensen remained rooted at the back.
To the delight of the roaring home crowd, Periault led from Lindemann. Before long, Taylor-Brown moved into contention and the three leading athletes – each a multiple WTCS medallist – seemed set to settle the medals. That was until Jorgensen gradually clawed her way back.
With elbows and shoulders flying, Jorgensen reduced the gap and as the bell for the final lap rung should could practically reach out and touch the leaders.
Taylor-Brown began to move up on Periault’s shoulder, but so too did Lindemann. As Lindemann rounded the bend, she struck for home. The German athlete possessed the quickest indoor 3000m personal best of the elite women’s field and when she launched her final kick her rivals had no answer.
Taylor-Brown was able to offer the greatest resistance but it ultimately came to naught as Lindemann broke the tape first. After fearsome anchor leg performances at the World Mixed Team Relay Championships and Paris Test Event in 2023, Lindemann confirmed once more that she may be the best female (super) short distance triathlete in the business.
Taylor-Brown settled for silver, building upon her bronze medal a week prior at the European Cup in Quarteira. Jorgensen’s recovery took her all the way to bronze as she got her season off to a strong start. Periault and Meißner then rounded out the top-5.
You can view the full results here.
