The final World Cup of the year is set to take place in Viña del Mar, Chile, next month. The stop made its debut on the circuit in 2022 and proved a rousing success.
The Sprint distance event offers something for everyone with a sea swim, a bumpy bike course and a fast run to wrap things up.
After the cancellation of the Montevideo World Cup, it will stand as the only World Cup in November and will represent a final choice to log all-important points for the world and Olympic rankings heading into 2024.
Who’s there?
The American women’s team will be tough to beat in Viña del Mar. Double 2023 World Cup winner Gwen Jorgensen will be racing, as will the former world champion Katie Zaferes. Gina Sereno, the silver medallist in Viña del Mar in 2022, will also be back to upgrade the colour of her medal.
Sereno recently claimed the Americas Sprint title and so will be one to watch.
As strong as the American women will be, they face a challenge from their neighbours. Mexico will be led by World Cup winner Anahi Alvarez Corral. Another World Cup medallist, Mercedes Romero Orozco, will also be starting. Meanwhile, the likes of Luisa Daniela Baca Vargas, Sofia Rodriguez Moreno and Marcela Alvarez Solis have enjoyed successful races at Americas Cups this year.
With several fast runners on the team, Mexico could nab a medal in Viña del Mar.
The Americas federations will be well represented in the women’s event. Brazil will have a talented quartet of Vittoria Lopes, Luisa Baptista, Djenyfer Arnold and Giovanna Lacerda racing. The home team, Chile, will have five athletes starting: Macarena Salazar, Catalina Salazar, Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza, Fernanda Orellana and Daniela Moya Chamorro.
Both Argentina and Costa Rica will send two women apiece. For the former, Moira Mirandi and Romina Biagioli are due to start while Raquel Solis Guerrero and Catalina Torres Espinoza are pencilled in to race for the latter.
Venezuela will also send a three-woman team in the form of Marianny Giuseppina Antonelli Urriola, Rosa Elena Martinez Melchor and Genesis Carolina Ruiz Volcan.
Another team not to be overlooked is Canada. Amelie Kretz, Dominika Jamnicky, Desirae Ridenour and Emy Legault will comprise the Canadian women’s team and any one of them could land on the podium. Legault won medals at the Americas Championships over the Sprint and Olympic distance. Jamnicky also won an Americas Cup in La Paz and finished 5th at the World Cup in Huatulco.
With the swim speed of Ridenour and the experience of Kretz thrown in, Canada have a very balanced team.
Even with a strong Americas presence, there is no guarantee that they come away with the medals. The European contingent is too strong for that to happen without a major clash.
Italy will be led by World Cup winner Bianca Seregni. Joining her will be Verena Steinhauser, who has finished inside the top-10 at WTCS races this year, Angelica Prestia, who finished 4th at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup, and Ilaria Zane, who won a medal at the Weihai World Cup.
With talent across the board, Italy could conceivably come away with one or two medals.
Spain will be represented by two women: the experienced Anna Godoy Contreras and Miriam Casillas Garcia. Both are proven performers at the WTCS level and will likely be in contention for a spot on the podium.
Britain will also be sending a noteworthy team. Former world champion Vicky Holland will continue her comeback in Chile while Sophia Green is also slated to start. Both Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown are listed on the start list. However, the smart money would be on both being substituted out at a later point.
A lot of athletes will be flying solo in Viña del Mar. The European Super Sprint champion, Mathilde Gautier, will be racing alone for France while Erica Hawley, Margot Garabedian, Elizabeth Bravo and Tereza Zimovjanova are in the same boat for their respective countries.
On the men’s side, the home team will be looking for another entertaining performance from Diego Moya. At last year’s event, Moya was denied the gold medal after a spectacular all-round showing. If he enlivens the race in the same way this year, it will make for great viewing.
Gaspar Riveros and Mateo Mendoza Burgos will also start for Chile.
Brazil will be sending a powerful men’s team. WTCS medallist Manoel Messias will lead the way. Miguel Hidalgo, the highest Brazilian finisher in the overall 2023 WTCS, will likewise be in attendance. With Antonio Bravo Neto and Kaue Willy also starting, Brazil will have several contenders for the top-10.
Mexico will be lead by the winner of the Weihai World Cup, Crisanto Grajales. Racing alongside him will be Irving Perez, Rodrigo Gonzalez and Aram Michell Peñaflor Moysen.
The Americas champion over the Olympic distance, John Reed, will head up the American team. WTCS medallist Matthew McElroy will also be racing. In 2022, McElroy won a hat-trick of World Cup medals and can be expected to return to the podium again soon.
Darr Smith, Chase McQueen and Seth Rider make up the remainder of the American team.
Canada will be sending a five man squad to Viña del Mar. All of Martin Sobey, Filip Mainville, Jeremy Briand and Liam Donnelly have impressed at the Americas Cup level in 2023 while Brock Hoel has stepped up as one of the leading swimmers in the WTCS. Given how the elite talent pool is growing in Canadian circles, a breakout performance on the world level can be expected from one of them sooner rather than later.
As with the women, the countries from the Americas will face stiff opposition.
The 2022 winner of the Viña del Mar World Cup, David Castro Fajardo, will be back. He managed to upset Moya with a late sprint last time. This year, he has already won the European Championships and the Huatulco World Cup.
Antonio Serrat Seoane and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia then add to a strong Spanish team.
Michele Sarzilla won his first ever World Cup medal in Valencia in September and will be back for more. World Cup winner Gianluca Pozzatti will also join him on the Italian team, as will Alessio Crociani and Nicola Azzano.
Austria will be sending Tjebbe Kaindl, Alois Knabl, Lukas Pertl and Martin Demuth to Viña del Mar. WTCS medallist Paul Georgenthum will head up a French trio that also contains Baptiste Massot and Boris Pierre.
Alex Yee, Jonathan Brownlee and Daniel Dixon have been entered for Britain. At this stage, it is likely that only Dixon actually makes it to the start line of the three as Yee and Brownlee will be substituted out.
Finally, Callum McClusky, Matthew Wright, Rostislav Pevstov, Erwin Vanderplancke, Tyler Smith and Panagiotis Bitados are some of the men that are due to be the only men starting for their country.
Main talking points
Jeffcoat returns
Emma Jeffcoat was in super form at the start of year. Across numerous Oceania Cup races, she tore up the swim and bike, and medalled in Wanaka.
However, injury cut off her season just as it was getting going. In Viña del Mar, she will restart her season just as the year comes to its end. It will be her first international race since the New Plymouth World Cup in March so it is hard to say how it will go.
If Jeffcoat’s speed is anywhere near her early season levels, though, she will likely be a big factor in shaping the race.
Kretz back too
In addition, Amelie Kretz will be making her return from injury. The former World Cup winner last raced at WTCS Cagliari in May. However, what had originally been thought to be nerve-related pain from her back turned out to be a stress fracture in her femur. As a result, Kretz has been forced to return to the arduous road of injury rehabilitation.
Earlier in the season, she won a bronze medal at the Americas Cup in St. Peters and then finished 21st at WTCS Yokohama. In the second half of 2022, Kretz had also logged two top-8 finishes in World Cup events. She had therefore been building up a head of steam before her injury struck.
With her travails hopefully behind her, she will look to get back into the swing of things in Viña del Mar. While her race sharpness will be a little unknown, she could surprise a few people.
Payet’s Olympic hopes
As of this moment in time, Gregor Payet of Luxembourg is in line to receive a New Flag slot for the 2024 Olympic Games as Africa does not have an eligible athlete.
New Flag slots are awarded to the highest ranked athlete from a country that has not already qualified for triathlon at the Games. Each of the five continental associations receive one New Flag slot.
Standing 87th in the Olympic rankings, Payet is currently the highest ranked man from a country not already due to qualify. Emil Holm of Denmark had occupied the slot earlier in the season. However recent strong results, including a 5th place at the Rome World Cup, have moved Holm up the Olympic rankings and now he is in line to qualify by right.
In Viña del Mar, Payet will have the opportunity to add to his points and take a step closer to locking in his New Flag place.
Yet some of his closest rivals will be his teammates.
Stefan Zachaeus and Bob Haller will also be starting and will also want to take the New Flag slot for Luxembourg. They are currently ranked 121st and 125th, respectively.
The race for Luxembourg supremacy could therefore determine the recipient of the Olympic New Flag place.
At the same time, other contenders will be hunting Payet down. Panagiotis Bitados of Greece is ranked 94th and is rising fast. With no other Greek qualifiers, Bitados could earn the slot if he overtakes Payet.
Viña del Mar, then, could prove a big moment in the European race to the Olympic Games.
View the full start lists here.
