It takes a special athlete to make it to the front of the field in the WTCS. The speed required to fight for medals on the run can be dizzying at times and only a select few can find that rare gear.
Of the current cohort of WTCS stars, Cassandre Beaugrand leads the way as the second fastest woman of all time in the Series. Her performances in Cagliari in 2022 and 2023 earned her the third and fourth quickest Olympic distance WTCS splits ever. To go with that, she is the second quickest woman ever in a WTCS Sprint distance run.
The likes of Georgia Taylor-Brown, Beth Potter and Jeanne Lehair have likewise made it into the top-8 all time Olympic distance splits in the past two seasons. Meanwhile, the owner of the fastest ever female splits in the Series, Gwen Jorgensen, has made her comeback to the sport.
A glutton of running talent will therefore grace the Series this season. As fast as their triathlon splits are, it is intriguing to ponder what they can manage without a swim and a bike compromising their speed and on the precise course offered by the track.
In this article, we will therefore take an overview of what the fastet women in the WTCS are capable of throwing down on the track. All times come courtesy of World Athletics.
We will start with the woman that logged the fastest splits of 2022 and 2023. Beaugrand set the French U18 record in the 1500m in 2014 as she clocked 4:17.04. It should come as no surprise that she represented France in the event at the World Junior Athletics Championships. In addition, after her victory at WTCS Hamburg in 2023 over the Super Sprint eliminator format, she noted that the 1500m has classically been her favourite distance.
Beaugrand’s other best times include a 3000m best of 9:02.97 (set indoors) from 2022 and a 5000m best of 16:07.85 set in 2016. She does not have a 10,000m time on the track although she clocked 33:12 in a road 10km in 2016.
Unsurprisingly, the current world champion, Potter, has a similar set of daunting times.
Potter’s 1500m best was set in 2011 and stands at 4:18.54 while she clocked a 3000m time of 9:02.06 (indoors) in 2019. Her running peak came in 2016 when she set 5000m and 10,000m personal bests of 15:28.32 and 32:03.45, respectively. Her speed that year should come as no shock given that she qualified for the Olympic Games in the 10,000m that year.
The relatively recent proximity between Potter and Beaugrand over the 3000m (the event represents both of their most recent personal bests) is particularly interesting.
The fastest woman ever in the WTCS, Jorgensen, also has a glittering record on the track.
Her best time in the 1500m is a 4:19.57 while her 3000m best is a 8:48.48 (both from 2020). In the 5000m, she clocked a phenomenal 15:08.28 in 2021 as she gunned for Olympic selection on the track. Her top track 10,000 result stands at 31:55.68 from 2018.
It should be noted that all of Jorgensen’s times came as a pure runner after her retirement from triathlon. This is somewhat akin to Potter (although Potter’s 3000m best technically came as a triathlete). Even as a triathlete, though, Jorgensen had a history of speed.
In 2015, she ripped a 32:12 10km on the road. Notably, she went on to win the world title that year.
Based on Jorgensen’s world title winning speed, one to watch this season will therefore be Emma Lombardi. Although she has a limited track profile, Lombardi recently got her 2024 off to a fast start as she popped a 32:28 over 10km on the road in Nice (set on 7th January). Her performance is fairly close to what Jorgensen produced in 2015 so the indications are that Lombardi will be a threat this year.
Looking further back, in 2022 Lombardi recorded a 33:11 10km in March before the season began. Shortly after, she took 4th place at her maiden WTCS race in Yokohama and ended year with first WTCS medal. Being almost 45 seconds quicker earlier in the year can thus be construed as a good omen.
To continue with the survey of the running speeds of elite female triathletes, it is also helpful to turn to the other WTCS gold medallists from 2023.
Sophie Coldwell also has a limited track profile but in 2020 produced a 5km road time of 16:11 and a 10km road time of 33:25. Georgia Taylor-Brown also has a limited profile. However, as an international cross country runner in the past, her speed should not be underestimated.
Lisa Tertsch is another international cross country runner and a WTCS medallist to boot. In 2016, she hit a time 4:26.13 in the 1500m. In later years, she has produced results of 9:28.53 in the 3000m (indoors, in 2020) and 16:03.15 in the 5000m (in 2019).
Tertsch’s German teammate Laura Lindemann does not have the most extensive track history. Nevertheless, one result jumps out and demands attention.
In 2021, Lindemann unleashed a 3000m time of 8:57.82 (indoors), thereby making her the only woman other than Jorgensen so far with a sub-9 minute 3000m time to her name. Lindemann also logged a 33:33 10km on the road in 2022, but it is her 3000m time that really stands out.
Turning our attention to the younger cohort and some of the rising stars of the sport, the speeds are just as quick.
Tilda Månsson, the 2022 World Junior and European Junior champion, ripped a 3000m time of 9:08.85 (indoors) and a 5000m time of 15:46.58. Both times went set in 2023 and both stand as Swedish U20 records. Månsson will need time for her swim and bike to mature but, considering her running speed, look for her to make a dent in the WTCS very soon.
We then have Anahi Alvarez Corral of Mexico: the fastest female runner in Pontevedra last year (covering the WTCS Final and the World U23 Championships). Alvarez has a 1500m best time of 4:20.52 which she set at the Pan American Games in 2023. That just happened to be the same competition in which she also raced in the triathlon and the 5000m.
Her quickest 5000m performance remains a 15:52.80 from 2021. When it comes to the longer distance, her 10km best came on the road in 2021 and stands at 32:40.
Any list of the top female runners in the WTCS would not be complete without Alberte Kjaer Pedersen. She blasted a 3000m time of 9:00.80 (indoors) in 2021 which earned her the Danish Record. She also has a 5000m best of 16:34.62 from 2018 while her 10km best on the road is a 33:11, which she set last year (Pedersen did run a 32:38 on an uncertified course in 2022, however World Athletics does not treat it as her personal best).
All in all, there are some extraordinarily fast runners in the women’s WTCS. The above survey provides an indication of just how fast one would have to run to be among the best triathletes in the world. Knowing how fast one needs to run is one thing, though. Managing it is an a different proposition altogether!
