When Crisanto Grajales stepped onto the start line in Weihai, he did so as one of the few men in the field with a World Cup gold medal to his name. However, almost six years had passed since he had claimed his last win at the world level. Given it had been so long since his last triumph, betting on the Mexican athlete seemed like a long shot.
That being said, he had triumphed at the Americas Cup in Ixtapa earlier in the year. Still, even with his renowned running speed, it remained to be seen if the second oldest man in the field could summon his top performances once more.
From the beach start, Kyotaro Yoshikawa got away well and set the early pace. Michal Oliwa moved up with him and together the pair stretched the field over the 1500m. Oliwa would exit with the lead in a time of 18:39, 1 second ahead of Yoshikawa. Leon Pauger and Trenth Thorpe followed in quick succession and the makings of a breakaway seemed to be in the offing.
Grajales managed to put himself in the top half of the field, completing the swim in 19:05. Although a lead group had formed, with Makoto Odakura and Lasse Nygaard Priester moving up, Grajales had the likes of Ren Sato, Felix Duchampt, Jason Tai Long Ng and Aoba Yasumatsu for company.
The experience of Grajales, Sato and Duchampt told as they reeled in the leaders to form a front group of nineteen.
Over the eight laps, the pace barely relented despite the brutal heat. Duchampt and Ng each took turns at the front which really stretched the pack without ever quite breaking it.
Further back, the likes of Johannes Vogel and Rodrigo Gonzalez leaked time as the leaders constructed an insurmountable lead. The winner would come from the lead pack. The only question was who it would be.
After doing so much work to get into the front group, Grajales instantly found himself on the back foot at the start of the run. Sato attacked early to surge into the lead.
To date, Sato has enjoyed a good season. He won medals at the Asia Cup races in Sejong and Subic Bay and recently logged a personal best WTCS finish in Sunderland. More than anything, his speed on the run was a sign of an athlete with his confidence cresting.
The bulk of the lead group fell behind under Sato’s pressure. Priester and Odakura, however, were able to hang on. Slowly but surely, they bridged to the leader.
Meanwhile, Grajales hovered a little further behind.
For a moment it seemed Sato had gone too hard too early and, as his rival wobbled slightly, Priester struck. The German moved ahead and built a lead of over 5 seconds. He expertly navigated the rises and descents on the undulating course and inched further away.
Odakura then passed Sato, as did Grajales, although it seemed Odakura was pulling away from his Mexican rival. On the descent on the third lap, though, Grajales upped the ante. He closed the gap to Odakura and drew alongside the Japanese athlete. Buoyed by his turn of speed, Grajales did not wait. He pushed on and bounded after Priester.
As Priester took his first step on the final lap of the run, he glanced to his side. Suddenly alongside him was Grajales. After out-splitting Priester by 10 seconds on the third lap, the Mexican had no intention of slowing and burst into the lead for the first time.
Having expended too much energy on the earlier part of the run, Priester could not respond.
Over the final 2.5km, Grajales was simply operating on a different plane. Whereas the heat and hills sapped his rivals, he seemed to only grow stronger. Onwards he pushed, even as his lead became too great for anyone to threaten. His last World Cup win may have come in October 2017, but that did not matter.
With the fastest run of the day, Grajales powered home to take the win by 15 seconds.
Behind him, though, the race for the podium was not quite done. Odakura continued to press the case against Priester and passed the German athlete.
Sato, too, had gained a second wind and was closing, as was Duchampt. Having entered the final lap able to see the gold, Priester now found himself clinging on to bronze. As Odakura extended his lead to 7 seconds, Priester battled on.
Sato had brought the gap to under 10 seconds and was still closing.
In the end, Priester managed to dig deep and haul himself over the line in 3rd place. Sato crossed next, 6 seconds down, while Duchampt followed another 4 seconds back.
You can view the full results here.
