There’s a new sheriff in town.
As the women lined up on the pontoon, Tokyo Bay looked calm. The silver medallist from WTCS Abu Dhabi, Sophie Coldwell, wore number 1 and took her position on the far right of the pontoon. A few moments later, her compatriot Georgia Taylor-Brown stepped up to take her position.
After narrowly missing out on the world title last year, many had expected Taylor-Brown to contend for the overall win in this year’s Series. After a slow start in Abu Dhabi, she was returning to the site of her 2022 victory. The first lap of the swim, though, saw a sliding doors moment between the two Brits.
Yifan Yang of China and Maya Kingma had the best starts and led the athletes round the buoys. After swimming well at the Continental Cup level, Yang took to the WTCS swim like a duck to water. She truly has a fantastic stroke and glided through the first lap. On her feet, Kingma had a higher tempo and was not quite as long in the water but also looked strong. With Summer Rappaport and Taylor Knibb also on hand to push the pace, by the end of the first lap, the field had been stretched.
Coldwell exited to dive in for her second lap in 8th place, 9 seconds down on Yang. Taylor-Brown, meanwhile, had lost 13 seconds to her team mate and emerged in 18th. That small gap between the two was all it took.
As Knibb, Rappaport and Kingma piled on the pressure on the second lap, the field crumbled into multiple small pieces.
A lead group of eight seemed to form heading into T1. A great T1 from Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, though, saw her steal a few places from 11th. Nine women therefore made the front group out of transition. Once Rappaport and Lizeth Rueda Santos slipped off the pace, the front group became seven strong, a number it would remain at for the entire bike.
Crucially, Taylor-Brown was in 18th.
On the first lap of the bike, the rain began as Knibb, Kingma, Coldwell, Tapia, Kate Waugh and Taylor Spivey took control of the race. Before long, the pack had a 40 second advantage over Taylor-Brown’s chase pack.
At that point, the chase consisted of 14 women and Taylor-Brown tried to corral them into shape. Yet as the rain intensified, their deficit only grew. The gap became a minute, then 1:20 as the leaders gave no respite. That is all except Knibb.
After a few mammoth turns on the front, Knibb suddenly dangled off the back. After having surgery on her foot at the start of the year, was it a sign she had over-exerted herself? Not at all. She simply was picking her moment to launch her attack. When she went, the rest of the lead group were immediately put on the back foot.
Kasper and Spivey took up the chase but it took a big push from Kingma to lasso Knibb. Once caught, Knibb slotted back into the group and not long after dangled off the back. Now, though, Kingma was wise to her move. While Knibb was a dominant force on the bike, Kingma marked her wheel expertly and in doing so seemed to keep the front pack together. Coldwell showed her strength with several big turns but the bike really hinged on Knibb and Kingma.
In 2021 the pair attacked to at the same race to earn gold and bronze, respectively. This time, though, the pack around them was able to keep up.
Beneath the numerous umbrellas lining the course, the home fans urged the breakaway on. As Taylor-Brown’s pack followed, the local support tried to urge her on too. By now, though, the chase was 1:27 behind. Taylor-Brown was at the front for practically the entire bike and she deployed a huge effort. However her inability to make up any time simply highlighted the importance of those precious seconds in the swim.
Entering the last lap attention began to turn to the run. Coldwell was the pick of the athletes in the pack in Abu Dhabi whereas Knibb had only recently had a screw put in her foot.
Kingma was a proven quantity over the run in Yokohama. And then there was Tapia. After a personal best finish at WTCS Abu Dhabi, what did the young Mexican have in store?
Tapia had said that the New Plymouth World Cup was the hardest bike of her career. Only six weeks later, that may have already been surpassed.
Despite a slight stumble, Coldwell was the first out of T2 with Spivey for company. Coldwell instantly injected a burst of pace to gain a small advantage. From her first step, her run looked in wonderful form.
After losing time in transition, Knibb moved through the remnants of the leading pack. Spivey and Waugh sat behind with Kingma taking 5th on the road.
Further back, Taylor-Brown moved into 8th on the run and slimmed her gap to Coldwell to 1:27. Crucially, she was now only 1:09 behind Tapia in 7th.
After the first lap, the gap between Coldwell and Knibb had stabilised at 6 seconds while Spivey and Waugh looked to have consolidated their positions ahead of Kingma. At every point, the race had been a real statement race from Waugh. In many respects, the U23 world champion could draw inspiration from Coldwell; a 4th at the same event in 2017 really put Coldwell’s name in the mouths of the triathlon world. Now, history seemed to be repeating itself with Waugh.
Yokohama, though, had another twist to offer.
After a steady first lap, Tapia caught Kingma and Kasper. In a mature performance, she built through the run and by the end of the second lap she had caught Spivey and Waugh.
At the head of the race, Coldwell was steaming towards the finish and the race was hers to lose. Indeed the question was no longer whether Coldwell will win. It was by how much she would win. For reference, at the midpoint of the run Taylor-Brown was 1:34 down on Coldwell. That was the same as the gap had been out of T2 so the two had produced an identical first 5km split.
While Coldwell looked in control, Tapia was only just getting started. She breezed away from Spivey and Waugh and suddenly had Knibb in her sights. Over the third of the four laps, she seemed to receive a rush of adrenaline as she bounded after Knibb. Spivey, too, began to move up and dropped Waugh as she scented a possible medal.
Knibb had a couple of glances back but was powerless to stop Tapia cruising onto her feet. A few strides later, Tapia was alongside. The last time a Mexican woman finished in the top-10 of a WTCS race was when Claudia Rivas finished 9th in Edmonton in 2015. If the scale of the moment crossed Tapia’s mind, she did not show it as she pulled clear of Knibb.
Coldwell’s lead over Tapia was 29 seconds at that point and the race was won. She did not give it away too early but her smile gradually grew as the final lap wore on. After an earthquake struck nearby Chiba earlier this week, it would have been tempting to insert a tacky “seismic” reference regarding Coldwell’s performance here.
Nevertheless, her win felt like the crossing of a threshold. Coldwell is now a WTCS race winner and assumes leadership of the 2023 Series. When she crossed the line, she sent a clear statement that she has truly arrived as a contender for this year’s world title and next year’s Olympic crown.
In Abu Dhabi, she showed she had honed the speed to marry to the strength she had shown for years. Today, she showed that the latest string on her bow is an exceptional run split. Her time of 33:53 was the fourth fastest of the day. It was a towering performance and one that will have the rest of the women’s field very nervous indeed.
Taking silver was Tapia, 18 seconds behind Coldwell. Coming home in 3rd place was Knibb. Once Knibb comes back to full strength after her injury, her showdowns with Coldwell this year could be monumental. With Beth Potter, the winner from Abu Dhabi, waiting in the wings, the top of the women’s field is starting to look incredibly crowded.
Spivey came home in 4th ahead of Waugh while Kingma held off Taylor-Brown for 6th. Kasper took 8th while Lombardi and Rappaport rounded out the top-10.
The biggest lesson of the day could not have been clearer. Sophie Coldwell has arrived and she is the new sheriff in town.
You can view the full results here.
