Category: Races

It has been a good year for the American women’s team. Three athletes have won WTCS medals (Taylor Spivey, Taylor Knibb and Summer Rappaport) while their former world champions, Gwen Jorgensen and Katie Zaferes, have also made trips to World Cup podiums during their post-maternity comebacks to the sport. As a result, the US team has a collection of world-level medallists from which to fill the remaining two Olympic slots beside Knibb on the Olympic team next year. At the Vina del Mar World Cup, the American women will individually…

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Les Berges du Lac – Tunis played host to the first of three African Cup races in November yesterday. With the event taking place over the Sprint distance, it proved a day for breakaways. In both the men’s and women’s races, the podium consisted entirely of athletes that escaped off the front. Moreover, both winners were able to capture the gold medals after disrupted seasons, giving both a boost before the 2024. Men’s race In the men’s race, Igor Dupuis led out the swim in a time of 9:09, carrying…

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The Americas Championships over the Olympic and Sprint distances have been and gone this autumn. However, championship racing for the region still had an event to go. The Pan American Games are a quadrennial competition for the countries of the Americas with the 2023 edition being hosted by Santiago, Chile. In a similar manner to the Asian Games, the event offers immense regional prestige. Taking place every four years, a Pan American Games gold can also be an elusive medal with athletes only ever getting a few bites at the…

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What happens when a winning strategy comes up against someone that cannot lose? Gwen Jorgensen arrived in Miyazaki having won a third straight World Cup race in Tongyeong a week prior. Across the races in Valencia, Karlovy Vary and then Tongyeong, she had proven unstoppable once she got up to speed on the run. Although she faced a strong field in Japan, the late withdrawal of the WTCS Pontevedra silver medallist, Kate Waugh, removed one obstacle from her path to a fourth consecutive victory. Yet Jorgensen was confronted by an…

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There are only so many times someone can run the fastest split at a race before they end up on the top of the podium. After crushing field-leading splits at the World Cups in Tangier and Tongyeong, Hugo Milner uncorked yet another outstanding run. This time, it was enough to carry him all the way to the gold medal. In slightly choppy conditions, the athletes remained fairly bunched together in the first of the two swim laps. As Márk Dévay led Dylan McCullough onto the beach and then back into…

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After winning three World Cups in a row, it is possibly a safe assumption that Gwen Jorgensen will be fairly competitive at this weekend’s Miyazaki World Cup. Her most recent win in Tongyeong showed the size of the task her competitors have in getting past her. In contrast to her win in Valencia, Jorgensen did not have an especially good swim. She balanced that out with a good bike split. However, a slow T2 put her on the back foot once more. Nevertheless, even as others around her elevated their…

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Later this week, Miyazaki, Japan, will play host to the third Asian World Cup stop in three weekends. Looking to defend his gold medal from the event from 2022 will be Gianluca Pozzatti. The Italian athlete won in Miyazaki in memorable fashion last year, albeit over the Sprint distance. This time the event will run over the Olympic distance. Pozzatti, though, will arrive in Japan in decent form. He finished 19th at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra and then followed it up with a 12th place at the World Cup…

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Alongside the final European Cup of the season, Yenisehir, Turkey, played host to the final European Junior Cup of 2023. Although the fields were fairly small in the Junior event – with seventeen women and thirty men starting – there was nonetheless plenty of talent on display. Multiple European Junior Cup winners took to the start line as did the men’s Asian Junior champion, Alexandr Ten of Kazakhstan. When the starters horn went off for the final time of the season, the racing did not disappoint. Women’s race Selinay Tuğçe…

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After the drama of the European Cup in Alanya, many of the same athletes remained in Turkey a week later to take on the European Cup in Yenisehir. In piping hot conditions, the racing took place over the Sprint distance. In both the men’s and women’s events, the race came down to a late fight for gold and the both silver medallists can count themselves extremely unlucky to have been denied the wins. Men’s race At the final European Cup race of 2023, the men’s race was a battle from…

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There are times when an athlete finds a run of form in which everything they touch turns to gold. Right now, Tim Hellwig is in that kind of form. A case could be made that he would have won the Tongyeong World Cup in almost any scenario (short of something like a mechanical or meteor strike jeopardising his race). In actuality, he continued his brilliant run with a complete performance in which he did not put a foot wrong. The wetsuit swim stretched the field as Jamie Riddle was the…

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The cold air of Tongyeong offered the clearest sign yet that the triathlon season is coming to its close for 2023. As the athletes lined the pontoon in their wetsuits, the temperatute stood at 10 degrees (Celsius), leaving several to shiver a little. For some, getting going in the conditions proved a challenge. However, at the front of the race Yuko Takahashi crackled into life instantly. The Japanese athlete got off to a fast start and took an early lead. Margot Garabedian of Cambodia set the pace at the front…

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Form is a funny thing. More often than not, an athlete has it right up until they don’t. Even the best run of form comes to an end at some point so when it arrives it has to be exploited. At the Tongyeong World Cup, two women in particular lead the expectations in the race for the gold medal. Both are in great form and have reasons that make their current run of results particularly sweet. Claire Michel seems to have shaken off the run of injuries that previously bogged…

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Tim Hellwig is on a roll. Across the landscape of international triathlon, he is someone that can lay claim to being in the best form around. A win at last weekend’s Chengdu World Cup came after he earned the silver medal at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra. Prior to that, he earned top-8 finishes at WTCS Hamburg and the Paris Test Event while also finishing 4th at WTCS Montreal. At almost every opportunity this year, Hellwig has stepped up and the WTCS race winner (from Hamburg in 2021) will arrive…

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The European season may be ending, but the race at the European Cup in Alanya played to a similar tune as that seen earlier in the year. Back in March, at the European Cup in Melilla, the French men’s team locked out the podium. Seven months later, they were up to the same antics in Alanya. For many of the athletes starting it had been a long year and there were some tired bodies lining the beach. While the sea temperature exceeded 26 degrees (Celsius), the athletes nonetheless brought their…

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Brasilia was the race that refused to be decided. At every step of the way in the men’s race, an athlete would step up to take control of proceedings only for someone else to pop up on their shoulder and take over. Although the group of potential winners remained small over the Olympic distance event, the race kept the identity of its winner well-hidden until the very last minutes. Charles Paquet got off to a good start in the swim and earned an early lead. Amid a strong crosswind, conditions…

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