Author: Benjamin Eastman

Nine time WTCS medallist Jessica Learmonth has announced that she is pregnant and is expecting in September of this year. After injury ruled her out of almost all of the 2022 season, her comeback to the top level of the sport will be put on hold for now. With the example of Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen to follow, as well as the likes of Nicola Spirig hitherto, Learmonth will still have the door open for her to make a return to the sport. Pertinently, she will be able to…

The Kids Are Alright One thing that stood out at the Americas Cup in St. Peters was the Junior talent on show. Mathis Beaulieu finished 9th after his stunning win in Sarasota last month. Likewise the American Junior Carter Stuhlmacher managed to claim 11th place. Beaulieu was particularly impressive as he logged the joint-third fastest run split. Meanwhile Stuhlmacher did not quite go as bonkers in the water as at the North American Junior Championships but was nonetheless fast. With three more Juniors born in 2004 inside the men’s top-20,…

A Vintage Zaferes Performance Any discussion of the racing at the Americas Cup in St. Peters has to start with the women’s victor, Katie Zaferes. After gaining a lead in the water, Zaferes continued a fine solo performance to build a commanding lead on the bike. In a way it was a case of history repeating itself. Katie Zaferes essentially deployed the tactics popularised by Flora Duffy to beat Gwen Jorgensen, the very individual against whom Duffy devised the strategy in the first place. As such there was a sense…

Double WTCS race winner Dorian Coninx popped up in the forests in the region of Poissy and Saint Germain en Laye at the weekend. In a successful venture into the woods, he won the 10km at La Pisciacaise. Coninx recorded 30:54 for his efforts on a mix of asphalt and grass. By way of comparison, in 2022 Coninx’s Poissy Triathlon team mate Aurelien Raphael took the win over the 10km in a time of 31:42. As per an Instagram story posted after the race, Coninx was instructed to tackle the…

The third place finisher in last season’s women’s WTCS is on the comeback trail. Last June, Taylor Knibb discovered that she had suffered a stress reaction in her foot ahead of WTCS Leeds. After initially being advised to avoid running for two to six weeks, the reaction did not subside. Eventually, upon a new medical consultation, Knibb received the green light to run regardless and so returned to a full swing of autumn races. Amidst those races she won consecutive medals at WTCS Cagliari and WTCS Bermuda. At both races,…

British duo Alex Yee and Sophie Coldwell took on the English National Road Relays at Sutton Park, Birmingham, yesterday. The men’s race consisted of twelve legs of which six were long and six were short. The women’s relays, meanwhile, contained two long legs and four short. Both Yee and Coldwell took on the long course which measured out to 8.65km on an undulating course. The short leg was 5km. After winning gold and silver medals at WTCS Abu Dhabi, respectively, the relays provided a useful opportunity for the pair to…

Earlier today an array of Australia’s most promising Junior athletes toed the start line at the Australian Junior Sprint Championships in Port Adelaide to determine the third and final slots for the men and women at the upcoming World Junior Championships. The first two male and female slots were decided at the Oceania Junior Championships in February. Bradley Course won the Junior men’s race in Taupo. Course has been in sterling form this season and followed it up with a silver medal at the Oceania U23 Sprint Championships. Thomas Feldmann…

World Triathlon confirmed earlier today that there will be several changes to the World Cup calendar in 2023. Foremost amongst those changes was the announcement of a new World Cup race to be held in Tangier, Morocco. The racing will take place over the Sprint distance and the event is slated to take place on 1 October. The Tangier World Cup will be a watershed moment for the sport. Notably, it will mark the first African World Cup since 2019 and will represent the first time a race of this…

World Triathlon has approved, in principle, the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international triathlon. Earlier this year, there was a question mark as to whether the two countries would be permitted to participate in international competition. Following the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Triathlon will be lifting the suspension to Russia and Belarus. The ban was instituted in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Belarus was banned for its support of the invasion. In the original attacks against Ukraine, the Belarusian border…