After the Asian Championships over the Sprint and Olympic distances captured most of the continental triathlon headlines in April, the month ended with an Asia Cup event in Pokhara, Nepal. The Sprint distance event attracted several athletes from the region, particularly from neighbouring India, and gave them a chance to test themselves against an international field.
Perhaps most significantly, the racing in Pokhara may have had implications for the start lists at the Paris Olympics, although the full consequences of the action are yet to be seen.
Women’s race
In many ways, 2023 was a year to forget for Edda Hannedottir. After starting at WTCS Abu Dhabi in March, injury robbed her of her season and she would not race again internationally for over a year. In Pokhara, the athlete from Iceland took a decisive step in putting her injury troubles behind her as she won in classy style.
Hannesdottir took the bull by the horns in the swim and unleashed the fastest split of the race in 9:25. Only Manami Iijima of Guam was able to live with her speed. Indeed, only one other athlete remained within a minute of Hannesdottir.
Iijima followed Hannesdottir into T1 and the pair set onto the bike course together. From there, they cooperated well to extend their lead further. They gained over 90 seconds over the next fastest cyclist throughout the 20km and, by the time they arrived in T2, the rest of the field were long forgotten.
A fast T2 and then field-leading 5km (18:43) then handed Hannesdottir a comfortable victory. Her gold medal was her first in an international triathlon and also represented a first international medal since 2019. In many ways, then, Pokhara gave a confirmation of sorts that she was back in business.
Meanwhile, Iijima secured the silver medal with ease. Crucially, her medal will have bolstered her world ranking and all but guarantees that she will claim the Oceania women’s New Flag slot at the Paris Olympics. Guam has never sent a triathlete to the Olympic Games and so Iijima’s achievement (while yet to be officially confirmed until the end of the qualifying window) will be a big moment.
Alina Khakimova rounded out the podium after having the best run of the distant chase group.
Men’s race
If Iijima’s silver medal essentially locked up the Oceania women’s New Flag, the men’s race in Pokhara cracked a different New Flag wide open.
Jean Gael Laurent L`entete arrived in Nepal as the front-runner in the African men’s New Flag hunt and was on the prowl for further world rankings points to secure his position. However, he fell victim to an incredibly fast swim and slipped into the chase pack. From there, his race did not recover.
As L`entete lost time, one of his continental rivals made the most of a sudden opportunity.
Mitsuho Mochizuki of Japan had led the field in a fantastic 8:29, putting 12 seconds into his closest challenger. A front pack of three, containing Mochizuki, Yuya Kobayashi and Aleksandr Kurishov would then come together on the bike. Further back, three men were stuck behind but managed to each haul themselves up to the leaders. Nick Frisby, Siefeldeen Ismail and Brooklyn Henry gradually made it the front and made the lead group six-strong.
Thereafter, the leaders put almost 2 minutes into the isolated chasing L`entete.
Ismail then kept going and managed to nip into T1 with a slender lead. Clearly full of confidence, he added a field-leading 5km (16:44) to win by 25 seconds. Ismail’s win may prove hugely influential in the African Olympic New Flag race as his points haul will likely put him ahead of L`entete in the world rankings. With the qualifying window closing in less than a month, the athlete from Egypt suddenly finds himself as the front-runner to qualify.
Henry managed to run through to take 2nd place for his first international podium. Notably, his run split was only 4 seconds slower than Ismail’s, indicating how the race was realistically won before the run. Mochizuki then held on for a well-deserved 3rd place after breaking up the race in the first discipline.
View the full results here.
