Time stands undefeated. Days and events and races are rolled upon one another, blurring and meshing together
The passage of time, though, leaves its clues. The enclave of Melilla is one such clue. Now an autonomous region, for centuries it was to all intents an purposes a vital colonial outpost for a litany of Spanish leaders, an essential Mediterranean toehold on the shores of North Africa.
The castles still stand watching over the bay, gazing across the sea perhaps in memory of a forgotten past. They stand to remind how different things looked so recently.
If you were to look down from those towers today, you may have seen the triathlon taking place. You might have seen those specks ride the waves back to the beach and dart around the streets.
To draw closer, the racing itself almost reflected the curious space Melilla itself now occupies: new faces and new futures emerged yet someone from a recent past ultimately stood above to enjoy their day in the sun.
Women’s race
Emma Jackson was nothing short of a prodigy when she first bounded onto the elite scene. A world title was duly won at the U23 level in 2010; a first WTCS medal followed the next year shortly before she even turned 20.
Success followed, most memorably with her WTCS win in Edmonton in 2019.
Compared with many of those starting around her, Jackson’s career bore a kind of resemblance to the castles above. While new contenders emerge, whether this year or in future years, Jackson’s craft has withstood the test of time. Like those castles, she can still tower above.
From the off, Jackson took control of the race. With Myral Greco of Italy leading the way in the water, Jackson was at the front and exploited the sea swim to her full advantage.
Cecilia Santamaria Surroca was with Jackson and Greco out of the water. With help from Santamaria, Jackson consolidated a lead of 20 seconds over a pack of thirteen women by the end of the first of the four bike laps.
On the second lap, the chase dwindled to ten women. By the end of the third lap, the lead was up to 27 seconds. Jackson, it seemed, would be running away with the win.
On the final lap, though, Alissa Konig kicked the chase into a new gear as she ate into the lead. Her final lap was the best of the field and she was the first of the chase to arrive in T2. Although she had not wiped away the gap, Konig had inflicted some damage to Jackson’s lead.
Jackson tried to get away early but Konig was quick to make up as much ground as she could. Over the course of the first lap, Konig would not give up the chase.
Meanwhile, Nora Gmür pulled alongside Santamaria in the battle for bronze. In the end, Gmür had too much for Santamaria on the second run lap and won bronze.
At the front, nothing was going to stop Jackson in Melilla and she held off Konig to take the win.
As for Jackson’s last win, that just happened to be that WTCS race in Edmonton in 2019. Sometimes the world does not change as fast as we think.
Men’s race
In contrast to the women’s race, there was no established athlete in the field to watch. Instead, there were a number of young, up and coming athletes hoping to ride the waves of changing times and find their success.
Moreover, unlike the women’s race, no athletes truly took control of proceedings in the early stages. Louis Vitiello produced a fast swim and tried to press his advantage on the bike. By the end of the first lap, he even had a 5 second gap.
The line of men chasing him down, though, contained over thirty athletes.
It was therefore no surprise that the field came back together in the subsequent laps. In many respects, the field was quite risk-averse on the bike. For some, it may be worth taking a leaf from Jackson’s book at future races.
Onto the run, a French trio of Nathan Grevel, Guillaume Hay and Vitiello tried to seize the initiative and built up a lead of 10 seconds. With none of the field able to respond, the event quickly narrowed to a three horse race.
Hay began to slip behind Grevel and Vitiello on the second lap. Towards the end of the run, Vitiello put the race to bed with a mighty kick to the finish. In doing so he finished 4 seconds ahead of Grevel, who in turn finished 6 seconds ahead of Hay.
After only racing internationally twice in 2022, Melilla represented a bounce back for Vitiello. The win was richly deserved as he did arguably the most of any man to animate the race. As a young athlete, there should be more to come from him.
Melilla. A place where aspects of times old and new co-exist at once.
View the full results here.
