By now, you may have seen that the latest crop of French Junior triathletes are immensely talented. At the test weekend in Cannes, they produced a series of performances that were sensational.
The question to ask is how does this latest cohort compare to those that came before.
This is no small question. Consider that the Junior tests have been previously undertaken by current world champion Leo Bergere, two time world champion Vincent Luis, WTCS gold medallists Cassandre Beaugrand and Dorian Coninx, and a host of brilliant athletes such as Leonie Periault, Jeanne Lehair and Pierre Le Corre.
The Juniors of recent times are thus standing against some of the biggest names in the sport.
Records date back to 2008 and an array of talents have participated in the tests since. In 2018, the bike component was added. In the interests of consistency, we will compare the combination of 800m (50m) times and 5000m times for the swim and run.
The Women
The big takeaway is simple. Ilona Hadhoum is the fastest performer at the French Junior tests of all time.
Let’s clarify. Hadhoum was already the fastest of all time from her 2022 performance. She simply went even quicker this time round.
Last year, Hadhoum swam a time of 9:18.6 and then ran 17:03.9 for the 5000m. That gave her a total time of 26:22.5.
This year, she swam 9:28.4 and ran 16:48.1, earning her a time of 26:16.5 and an improvement of 6 seconds.
Furthermore in 2022 Hadhoum logged the best ever swim time at the tests. To follow that, this year she produced the fastest run ever seen at the tests.
Obviously the recent advances in running shoe technology may have helped when comparing to historic times. Nevertheless, Hadhoum still out-ran Cassandre Beaugrand’s best test performance of 16:59 from 2014. It is also worth noting that Beaugrand ran at World Junior Athletics Championships in the 1500m that year.
In turn, Beaugrand now sits in 3rd in the all time test performances with her 26:35 from 2014. As it happens, she is also in 6th place courtesy of her 27:10 from 2013. One additional point to note is that Beaugrand was younger than Hadhoum when she produced her performances. This is Hadhoum’s final year of Junior eligibility whereas in 2014 Beaugrand had another two years to race as a Junior (in 2015 and 2016).
The history of the tests must be taken with a grain of salt, then, given the varying ages of the athletes involved.
This year’s tests were not all about Hadhoum, though. Manon Laporte powered her way to 4th all time with her combined showing of 26:49.8. For reference, Laporte’s 2022 performance now stands in 12th place all time.
Former U23 world champion Audrey Merle’s 2014 performance is now 5th all time. She produced a combined time of 27:01 (9:41 swim, 17:20 run). She is closely followed by Margot Garabedian.
Garabedian is an interesting athlete as she is currently switching her nationality away from French. In future, she plans to race for Cambodia. At the end of 2022, she won an African Cup race in Dakhla. Garabedian’s test performances now rank 7th and 8th with times of 27:13 and 27:21 from 2015 and 2014, respectively.
Another 2023 entry makes the top-10 on the women’s side as Lea Houart sits in 9th. Her time of 27:27.4 showed immense promise. Julia Visgueiro was the only other female athlete this year to break into top-20. She is now 11th after she achieved a combined time of 27:37.3.
Meanwhile, Emilie Morier maintains a place in the top-10 with her 27:34 from 2015.
Elsewhere, Jeanne Lehair’s best performance (from 2013) sees her in 14th. Similarly, Leonie Periault’s 2012 performance now puts her in 21st.
The Men
Reigning World Junior champion Thomas Hansmaennel came 2nd at the test this year. However, his combined swim and run actually placed him 6th all time in the men’s ranking, tied with Boris Pierre.
Hansmaennel’s times of 9:22.9 and 14:51.1 totaled at 24:14.
This year’s male winner, Gaspard Tharreau, inserted himself into 13th place all time. He swam 9:09.7 and ran 15:13.1. His advantage over Hansmaennel in 2023 therefore primarily came from the time trial test on the bike.
It should be noted, though, that Tharreau’s 2022 times have him also ranked 5th. Last year he swam 9:17.8 but ran 14:50.9 for a total of 24:08.7.
It is clear, then, that Tharreau’s running is not yet back to his 2022 levels however he will most likely return to it soon. The more important information is that his swim has improved over the last twelve months.
As a point of reference, Hansmaennel’s 2022 performance is now 18th all time. Last year Hansmaennel’s combined time was 24:29.9; in the last year, he has therefore made a 15 second improvement.
The current leader in the French male Junior leaderboard is Tim Lerno. His combined best is 23:38.4, a time he achieved last year. He also notably set the fastest swim time ever last year with his 8:47.3. As a fun coincidence, Lerno’s run last year was a 14:51.1, the same as Hansmaennel this year.
WTCS medallist Paul Georgenthum sits in 2nd with a performance of 23:56 and he is the only other man under 24 minutes. To achieve his time, Georgenthum swam 8:54 and ran 15:02.
Dorian Coninx is next with a 24:03 while Léo Fernandez, the 2022 European Junior champion, is 4th all time with his 24:08.3. Fernandez set that time in 2022. The fact that he went on to win his European title indicates that the tests have some value in predicting whether an athlete will perform well, at least at the Junior level.
Titouan Chauvin sits in 8th from his 2022 performance. Then Vincent Luis has the 9th fastest performance in history with his 2008 showing of 24:19.
One athlete to note from this year is Martin Hubner. He ran 14:40.6 in the 5000m; that was not only the fastest run of the test, it was the fastest run ever at the Junior test. Hubner’s run went a long way to helping to the 11th fastest performance of all time with a total of 24:20.8.
Moreover, this year Achille Besson (15th), Adam Fouchal (17th) and Nils Serre-Gehri (20th) were the other men to break into the all time top-20.
Another notable name to flag is Pierre Le Corre. His 2009 combined time of 24:22 now confers him with the 12th fastest performance ever at the tests.
There is one final point to end on. Leo Bergere completed the Junior tests in 2014. That year he swam a time of 9:15 and ran 15:39 for a total of 24:54. That now ranks as the 40th fastest performance at the tests.
Bergere, though, has grown to become the world champion. Therefore while tests can be helpful, they do not determine the future and are merely a single staging post on a much longer journey.
You can view the full history of the tests here.
