Edmonton spent several years as a fixture of the World Triathlon Championships Series however it has not returned since hosting the WTCS Final in 2021. This year, an Americas Cup filled its place on the calendar.
A host of Canadian talent and international contenders arrived to take on a fast Sprint distance course. Due to a late change, the race was adjusted into a duathlon. When the dust settled, the home team came away with three medals.
Women’s race
After a cagey swim and bike, Natalia Casas blew the field away on the run.
She out-split the next quickest woman, Isla Britton, by 50 seconds to seal an emphatic win. Britton had been part of a small chase group during the run and out-kicked Amber Schlebusch late on to seal the silver medal. The South African athlete came away with the bronze medal.
Casas and Schlebusch led the race from the start. In an early display of intent, they were the first to emerge into T1. Casas then flew through T1 to strike out onto the bike as Schlebusch lost time in transition. Desirae Ridenour and Sophia Howell moved up alongside Casas while Maïra Carreau and Britton quickly jumped into the lead group after fast swims.
An eight woman front pack then formed as Schlebusch, Alexandra Poole and Yoshiko Eda joined the leaders.
The leaders soon found their groove and gained over a minute and a half on the chasers throughout the bike. By the time the run arrived, everything was set up for Casas’ big finale. And she did not disappoint.
With her win, Casas claimed her first ever international gold medal. In doing so, she also capped a successful weekend for Mexico after Crisanto Grajales won the Weihai World Cup. When looking for the potential future superpowers of the sport, Mexico could be one of the next countries to rise.
Men’s race
After wins in Montreal and Long Beach from his previous two international appearances, Zach Leachman arrived in Edmonton with a hat-trick on his mind.
From the start, it was clear that he meant business. The young American led the first run in a time of 7:34. Jeremy Briand, Russell Pennock and Ryan Luczak were right on his feet as a cluster of men arrived in T1 together. Indeed, almost the entire field arrived within 15 seconds of Leachman.
On the bike, the pace shed a few athletes although the favourites remained in contention. After leading the swim, Leachman, Briand, Pennock and Luczak stayed safe at the front and set a high tempo. In what was a very young field – Briand and Pennock were two of the four men born before 1996 – the athletes scrapped to be at the front. Briand’s WTCS experience therefore served him well as he navigated the 20km without trouble.
Briand was then one of the quickest men through T2. With Pennock and Leachman in close pursuit, he struck ahead in the opening kilometre of the run, setting a pace that few could handle.
Even Leachman began to struggle with the speed and soon lost contact with the leading Canadian pair. As a home win seemed guaranteed, Briand pressed on to secure the gold medal. Pennock tried to respond but Briand had him covered.
Briand clocked a field-leading 15:16 5km split to seal the win. Pennock crossed 17 seconds later in 2nd place, although he lost as much time in T2 to Briand as he did on the run.
Leachman then finished in 3rd place, a further 14 seconds behind. Although it was not the win he had hoped for, Leachman could nonetheless be satisfied with his bronze medal. He will now look ahead to the World U23 Championships in Pontevedra where he could be America’s best shot at a medal.
You can view the full results here.
