Category: Athletes

One of the big changes prior to the upcoming Bundesliga season was that Lasse Lührs has left Buschhütten. After winning the second round in Berlin last year, he was an important component of the Buschhütten team on their way to reclaiming their crown. Going forward, he will be representing Bonn. “Hopefully it’s the right decision!” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the new season and being in a new team.” The switch came after living in Bonn for two years. Lührs noted, “it felt right to compete for team I train…

In what might be one of the more successful detours in triathlon history, Sophie Coldwell logged her best ever WTCS finish on her way to a silver medal in Abu Dhabi. “I only raced it because I was on the way back from Australia and it was on the way,” explained Coldwell. The decision to stop in Abu Dhabi was taken only about six weeks before the event. Along with members of the Loughborough training group, including Abu Dhabi winner Alex Yee, Coldwell had been on a warm weather training…

With three WTCS medals last season, Beth Potter had a great 2022. Throw in her bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games and she possibly had as good a year as she could have hoped. However, the highs of the past year precipitated a mirroring low over the winter. Sickness proved a problem. Contracting COVID at the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi undermined her race and perhaps cost her third place in the 2022 Series. Then a bout of flu in January put her out of action too. Amidst the turbulence…

After a difficult end to her 2022 season, Summer Rappaport bounced back in style by taking 4th place at WTCS Abu Dhabi. In Abu Dhabi, she was one of the fastest swimmers before riding as part of a six woman breakaway. Already, she has surpassed her best WTCS result from last year. Indeed, Abu Dhabi was her best finish since taking bronze at WTCS Hamburg in 2021. 2022 proved to be a tricky year for Rappaport as illness and injury hampered her. Injury was a particular problem in the last…

There are few athletes in the World Triathlon Championship Series with as much speed as Nina Eim. From her teenage years, she has track personal bests of 8.08 over the 60m and 26.15 over the 200m (both indoors). It is not only uncommon for an elite triathlete to come from such a sprint background. Eim possesses a level of sprint speed that many in the men’s field would quietly envy. Indeed, she might be among the most lethal triathletes in a sprint finish. Eim’s closing speed was on display in…

Dorian Coninx smiled as he reflected on his first race of the year. A 5th place finish was a good way to open his account for the season. “It went very well for me,” he said. “It was smooth from the beginning to the end and I was very happy with my race. It was nice to start the season like that as Abu Dhabi has not always been great for me.” His past five races at Abu Dhabi included three DNFs and a highest finish of 37th. Relief was…

They say to understand someone, you have to walk a mile in their shoes. While he did not quite make it to a mile, Matthew Mcelroy may have gleamed a little from the life of Gabor Faldum after trying to wear his shoes in T2 at WTCS Abu Dhabi. Mcelroy became a father in December and the stresses of looming parenthood make people do strange things. Racking your bike in another athlete’s slot, dropping your helmet in the wrong box and reaching for someone else’s shoes might be a little…

Miriam Casillas was 18 years old when she arrived in Madrid. Born and raised in Badajoz in the south-west, she arrived in the capital to fulfil a childhood aspiration of becoming a doctor. In doing so, she would follow the footsteps of her mother and, at that time, the road ahead seemed set. Casillas, though, just so happened to also be a talented triathlete. In 2011, she won the World Junior Cross Triathlon Championships held in her home region. When she arrived in Madrid, then, she was also invited to…

There’s something about Kenji. Popular among athletes and fans alike on the WTCS circuit, it is hard to escape the feeling that Kenji Nener has been around for a while yet is also only just arriving. In 2021, he enjoyed the twin peaks of a 14th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics and a first top-10 in a WTCS race by taking 9th in Abu Dhabi. “There’s no doubt 2021 was the high of my career,” said Nener. Those successes, however, preceded a deep lull. At the end of 2021,…