Doubling as an Asia Cup race, the Central Asian Championships took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
One of the most notable aspects of the race preview was that two athletes that are currently in line to seal New Flag slots for the Paris Olympics, Ivana Kuriackova and Ayan Beisenbayev, were due to start.
Samarkand therefore presented a perfect opportunity for them to reinforce their position. Both already had international wins to their name this season and so could be confident heading into the Olympic distance challenge.
However, several athletes awaited on the start lines, primed to ruin their days.
Men’s race
With water temperatures over 24 degrees (Celsius), a non-wetsuit swim was inevitable. As one of the strongest swimmers in the world of triathlon, Richard Varga took full advantage of that fact.
He stormed to a lead in the water, with Alexander Kurishov the next man out. James Tan of Hong Kong managed to keep the lead pair within touch but a large gap formed thereafter.
The lead trio nipped through T1 and began to work together on the bike. For a spell, they seemed to cooperate well. But then, treachery struck.
Not content with his position, Varga attacked his fellow leaders. Tan and Kurishov scrambled to chase him down but the Slovakian tore around the next lap. He slowly pushed his lead out to double digits. The only question was whether he could hold it.
Further behind, attacking was on the minds of two others as Federico Scarabino and Ayan Beisenbayev charged away from the chase pack. With the leaders fighting amongst themselves, the moment was ripe for them to join the action.
Gradually, Varga was reeled back in while Scarabino and Beisenbayev overcame the 30 second deficit and bridged to the front. Tan, however, did not finish the bike, leaving four men at the head of the race.
Having missed the move by Scarabino and Beisenbayev, Jason Tai Long Ng tried to react on the bike. His efforts, though, went in vain. The lead quartet flew around the course and built a massive lead. As it entered 2 minute territory, it was clear the winner would come from the front group.
The identity of the winner soon became clear from the early part of the run. Beisenbayev ran away from his fellow leaders to win by over a minute. In doing so he claimed both the Asia Cup win and the Central Asian Championships title.
Despite a 15 second penalty on the run, Varga had the final push required to beat Kurishov to 2nd place. Kurishov, though, could still celebrate a medal in front of home fans.
Ng ran the second fastest split of the day, beating Varga’s time by over 90 seconds, and managed to overhaul Scarabino. However, such was the gap after the bike, he had to settle for 4th place.
Women’s race
A small women’s field lined up to start the race and Ivana Kuriackova made short work of the opening lap of the swim. Tanja Stroschneider, Macarena Salazar and Minori Ikeno managed to go with her to form a lead group of four women.
In choppy conditions, it may have been a wise move to sit on the feet of others and draft where possible.
The lead quartet added considerable time to their lead on the bike. However they lost Ikeno. In the end, though, that did little to slow their charge and by the time they arrived in T2 they led the chase by over 4 minutes.
Salazar fell away from the lead almost instantly out of T2 as Kuriackova and Stroschneider faced off for the win. The Austrian athlete had taken a win in an African Cup at the end of 2022 and had since primarily focused on racing in the WTCS. Her strength showed in the first half of the run as she put Kuriackova under pressure.
Yet the Slovakian athlete did not wilt in the heat. Slowly but surely, she began to turn the tables on Stroschneider and pulled away. By the time the 10km had elapsed, she led by almost half a minute.
As was the case with Beisenbayev, the win will be a welcome addition to Kuriackova’s points haul in her quest to make next year’s Olympic Games.
Stroschneider came home in 2nd place to also claim a useful bundle of points. Salazar then took the bronze medal. Meanwhile, Alina Khakimova won the Central Asian title from 5th place overall.
View the full results here.
