Category: Races

Morlec the Favourite in a Tightly Bunched U23 Field

Benjamin Eastman

The World U23 Championships are perhaps the premier opportunity for young athletes to broadcast their talents and set themselves up for a successful career in elite triathlon. Winning or even medalling at U23 Worlds is a strong marker of potential and the men starting in Abu Dhabi will be presented with a great chance to make a step forward. Paul Georgenthum is a name that automatically jumps out from the page by dint of his 2nd place finish at WTCS Hamburg in 2021 with one of the best run splits…

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Too Close to Call at the Women’s U23 World Champs

Benjamin Eastman

This year’s women’s U23 World Championships will see a very strong field take to the start line and may be of the most accomplished U23 fields of recent years. Kate Waugh is the standout athlete. She easily could have started the Senior women’s race in Abu Dhabi and pushed to consolidate a top-20 position in the WTCS Series. Her recent results certainly read like someone that could place in the top-10 in a women’s WTCS field; she came 12th at WTCS Cagliari, 3rd at the Bergen World Cup, 5th at…

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Who Could Race Up the WTCS Rankings in Abu Dhabi?

Benjamin Eastman

With only the Final left in the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series season, attention is turning to where the athletes could finish in the overall Series rankings. The end of season WTCS rankings are perhaps the closest thing the sport comes to having a bona fide indication of who the best athletes truly are. As such, plenty of pride is at stake. The athletes that finish in the top-35 in the Series will also receive additional prize money. As a result, moving up or down the Series rankings could be…

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Take a Look Back at all WTCS 2022 medallists

Benjamin Eastman

With the World Triathlon Championship Series Final around the corner, the time has come to take a look back at this season’s medallists. Hamburg 2021 Less than two months after the Tokyo Olympic Games, Hamburg saw a host of new faces start in 2021. Ultimately it was a day for local fans to enjoy as Germany took the win in both the men’s and women’s races through Tim Hellwig and Laura Lindemann. Lindemann was joined on the women’s podium by Nicole Van Der Kaay and Summer Rappaport. Meanwhile, on the…

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Splits Breakdown at the Viña del Mar World Cup

Benjamin Eastman

Fastest Swimmers Men As noted in the Statistical Breakdown for the Viña del Mar World Cup, Diego Moya had a fantastic swim. His time of 8:43 was 6 seconds clear of the next best athlete and put almost 15 seconds into the third best swimmer. Two notable athletes that made the top-10 swim splits were David Castro Fajardo (joint 6th fastest split with 8:58) and Jawad Abdelmoula (joint 10th fastest split with 8.59). That the entire men’s podium had top-10 swim splits indicates at least in part that the swim was…

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Viña del Mar World Cup: Statistical Breakdown

Benjamin Eastman

The Viña del Mar World Cup saw numerous interesting performances, several of which can be seen by delving into the statistics of the race. The Men’s Swim The above graphic shows the men’s swim distribution and from that it is possible to see just how much pressure Diego Moya put on the field with his aggressive tactics. A small concentration of athletes emerged from the water around 15 seconds behind Moya. This group was then followed by a steady flow of athletes over the next 20 seconds until the largest cluster…

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Biagioli and Matute Triumph at Viña del Mar Americas Cup

Benjamin Eastman

On the same day the Viña del Mar World Cup took place, the Americas Cup race at the same location was underway. Elite Women’s Race Leading the way in the women’s field was Romina Biagioli of Argentina. Rather unusually, the race was essentially decided from the swim. First out of the water was Sophia Howell of Canada in a time of 10:46, with Cuban athlete Leslie Amat Alvarez two seconds back and Biagioli a further four seconds back. That trio, once they escaped in the water, would not be seen again…

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Moya the Entertainer Denied at the Viña del Mar World Cup

Benjamin Eastman

A big start list of 63 men took to the water in Viña del Mar but the race seemed to come down to the antics of one man. Local favourite Diego Moya had a strong start to the swim. He made it to the first buoy with Jawad Abdelmoula for company. Wearing number 1, Abdelmoula is not normally renowned for his swim and so was in prime position. Moya, meanwhile, looked strong. Over the second half of the swim, he really stretched the field, maximising the waves to his advantage to…

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Dodet Edges Sereno to Take the Win at Viña del Mar

Benjamin Eastman

On the day a World Cup race came to Chile for the first time, there was an air of familiarity in the outcome. Sandra Dodet of France has been a fixture of the top-5 in World Cups this year. She came into this race as one of the favourites and, after a closely-fought battle on the run with American Gina Sereno, Dodet would pick up yet another World Cup medal in 2022. As swimming conditions go, those at the start of the race were perhaps some of the least hospitable…

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Viña del Mar to be a Battle of the Runners

Benjamin Eastman

After a breakout year, Manoel Messias of Brazil was originally slated to race the Viña del Mar World Cup. With his running speed combined with the exceptional form he has shown in recent months, he would have been an easy pick for the win. As it happens, though, Messias will not be starting in Viña del Mar and his absence makes the race significantly more unpredictable. The race has all the hallmarks of becoming a foot race out of T2. Tantalisingly, several athletes with remarkable running speed will be taking to the…

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Baptista the Favourite at the Viña del Mar World Cup

Benjamin Eastman

The last World Cup race of 2022 kicks off in Chile this weekend and represents one of the final chances of the year to score invaluable points on the road to potentially qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Based on the Americas Cup event in the same location back in February of this year, Viña del Mar promises to be a fast race. The women’s winner in February was Luisa Baptista of Brazil and she will be on the start line this weekend. She comes into the race in great…

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Flora Duffy Dominates at WTCS Bermuda 2022

Benjamin Eastman

Homecomings don’t come much sweeter than this. Three years after being forced to miss her home race in Bermuda through injury, Flora Duffy returned to win WTCS Bermuda in emphatic fashion. Coming into the race, the smallest of doubts had begun to form over whether her extraordinary standards were beginning to falter. Wins at the Commonwealth Games and WTCS Hamburg in July were impressive. However, the rest of Duffy’s season year had yet to fully ignite in the way it had in the past. Those concerns were comprehensively put to…

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Vincent Luis Stuns the Field at WTCS Bermuda 2022

Benjamin Eastman

As dawn broke over Bermuda, the narrative was set. Everyone knew what was supposed to happen. Alex Yee had been unbeaten all season and needed one more win to put himself in pole position to take the 2022 world title. After wins at WTCS Yokohama, Montreal and Cagliari, plus the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Yee had asserted himself as possibly the best triathlete in the world. There was one threat to him on the start line. Blummenfelt. Barely a week removed from his win at World 70.3 Championships in St.…

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The Terminology of Elite Triathlon Explained

Benjamin Eastman

Elite triathlon comes in various forms. Broadly speaking, racing at the elite level in short course can be broken down by distance and by the category of race. To start with distances, the races all follow a similar logic. The Olympic distance was the original distance having been standardised over thirty years ago as part of triathlon’s pitch to be included in the Summer Olympics. This format consists of a 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. The Sprint distance evolved a little later. This format involves a 750m swim,…

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