With racing at the Valencia World Cup, in the French Grand Prix and in the Bundesliga, there was already plenty for fans of triathlon to track at the weekend. Throw in the Americas Championships, a European Junior Cup and more, and there was plenty of space for stories to slip between the cracks.
Read on to find several stories you might have missed over the weekend.
Mind the (age) gap
Gwen Jorgensen claimed her first gold medal since the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as she won the Valencia World Cup. Across the board, she put together a fantastic performance.
Jorgensen also formed one half of a notable story in the women’s race. Born in 1986, Jorgensen was the second oldest woman in the race (after only the evergreen Juri Ide). At the other end of the scale, the former World Junior champion Tilda Månsson was racing. Månsson was born in 2004 and as such is a full 18 years younger than her American counterpart.
The phrase “old enough to be someone’s mother” is often thrown around, however in this case it is technically true.
What is remarkable is that both Jorgensen and Månsson are enjoying such success on the extreme ends of the sporting age spectrum. Whereas Jorgensen won in Valencia, Månsson took gold at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup in July. The Swedish athlete also finished 9th in Valencia in a sign that she is getting to grips with the Olympic distance.
Over the rest of the season and beyond, look for both to continue their form and show that, when you are fast enough, age is only a number.
Sarzilla’s first World Cup medal
On the note of age, another athlete from Valencia must be mentioned. In finishing 3rd, Michele Sarzilla earned his first ever medal at the World Cup level.
Most impressively, he did so at the age of 35.
Sarzilla has been flying the flag for older athletes all season. Back in April, he joined the sub-30 10km club; back in 2016, when the similarly-aged Jorgensen was winning Olympic gold, Sarzilla had not run under 33 minutes for 10km.
In Valencia, his persistence was rewarded as he landed on the podium. While he did not have the final burst of speed to fight for the gold with David Cantero del Campo and Lasse Nygaard Prieser, the Italian athlete nonetheless did a lot to reduce the numbers in the lead group with his fast tempo.
He may have been the oldest man racing in Valencia, then, but Sarzilla stepped up. His example is one that shows it is never too late to improve. With plenty of World Cups to come in the autumn, who’s to say he won’t add more medals before the year is done.
Nordic Championships
Racing here, racing there, racing everywhere.
Amid all of the action, the Nordic Championships took place in Fredericia, Denmark. Gabriel Sandör won the men’s race with a confident display.
Valdemar Solok, the Danish champion, got ahead in swim and initially put Sandör under pressure. The Swedish athlete was still able to rise through the ranks on the bike and joined the lead group.
Sebastian Wernersen enjoyed a good swim and bike and set the tempo at multiple stages. Moreover, several Junior men featured prominently. Paul Frayon swam well but lost time on bike. Eirik Berling Grande also had a good swim but unfortunately did not finish. Andreas Nikolajsen had perhaps the best performance of the Juniors and impressed in the first two disciplines.
No one, however, could touch Sandör on run. He cruised to victory by 11 seconds in style. Wernersen took 2nd place while Oscar Gladney Rundqvist finished 3rd.
Meanwhile, Alberte Kjaer Pedersen won women’s race. The Danish athlete had been second out of water behind Emma Varga of Sweden. From there, a four woman breakaway formed as Pedersen’s fellow Dane, Clara Carlquist, moved up and Varga was joined by her compatriot Klara Hofer Mattsson.
The quartet managed their lead and efforts over the bike and arrived in T2 with a healthy gap. Pedersen, though, was never going to be denied. She ran away from her fellow leaders and won by 50 seconds over Carlquist. In turn, Carlquist was 41 seconds ahead of bronze medallist, Hofer Mattsson.
Another ungodly Alvarez split
Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal claimed her first international win at the Americas Championships in a brilliant performance. In addition, her battle with Gina Sereno was captivating. Sereno had launched a gutsy attack on the run with the finish line in sight and had a lead of a couple of metres before the blue carpet. Tapia, though, managed to overhaul her as both women gave everything.
Across the board, Veracruz saw great performances. There was one point, though, that stood out.
Tapia recorded a 10km split of 36:08 while Sereno clocked 36:06. Both have won medals at the world level and are primed to become important parts of the Mexican and American teams, respectively. Yet their splits were blown away by Anahi Alvarez Corral.
She clocked 33:13 for the 10km in Veracruz. She had lost time in the water and on the bike, giving her a deficit of around 4 minutes entering T2. Yet she still ran through to 5th overall and the U23 title.
Her fast running is nothing new. Indeed, this is not the first time we have banged on about Alvarez’s running. However, she is simply operating on a different level to her rivals.
Tapia won the silver medal at WTCS Yokohama on the back of an exceptional run split and is a rising star. Even factoring in the extent to which she and Sereno ran tactically in Veracruz, Alvarez still ran almost 3 minutes faster.
One day, Alvarez’s swimming will be where she wants it to be. When that day comes, everyone will have to take cover.
Derron wins half ironman
It has been a good summer for Julie Derron.
After being sidetracked by a stress fracture, she returned to racing and claimed a personal best finish at WTCS Sunderland. She then essentially secured Olympic slot at Paris Test Event.
At the weekend, she continued her rich form with a win at Triathlon XL de Gerardmer. She completed the half ironman distance in 4:49:58, splitting 25:20 for the swim, 2:59:33 for the bike, and 1:21:29 on the run.
Most notably, the race was over a very challenging course. Next up for Derron is the Karlovy Vary World Cup, which is also home to a tough course.
In her current form, then, Derron will be licking her lips at the prospect of a hard day out.
