Punta Cana was home to the final qualification event for this year’s World Junior Championships. With the slots for Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe now decided, all that remained was for the athletes of the Americas to earn places for their federations.
A hot Sprint distance race awaited the athletes in the Dominican Republic. With air temperatures of close to 30 degrees and water temperatures of 26 degrees (both Celsius), heat management would prove to be an important facet of the race.
In both the men’s and women’s races, the reigning North and South American Junior champions were starting. That put continental pride on the line and what came next was an incredibly closely fought.
Men’s race
Carter Stuhlmacher let rip in the swim. As he did at the North American Junior Championships, he pummelled the rest of the field to the point that only one man, his fellow American Blake Bullard, was able to get within 25 seconds of him.
Floating behind in the chase pack were the likes of Andree Buc and Mathis Beaulieu. Both managed to get good starts to the bike and began to close the gap to Stuhlmacher. The reigning North American Junior medallists, Luke Anthony, Leandre Binette and Sullivan Middaugh all lost further time in the swim.
However, that trio were quick to make up for lost time on the bike. Along with Caua Diaz of Brazil, they began to push the pace to hunt down Stuhlmacher and the Buc-Beaulieu group. Gradually, the bulk of the field began to return together as the Anthony-Middaugh group made it to the chase pack.
Rather than stay with his group, though, Middaugh surged ahead. In a real display of strength, he began to build a small lead. Beaulieu and Buc tried to react but could not prevent Middaugh from pushing clear.
Stuhlmacher, though, still held on to his leadership of the race. In a huge solo effort, he refused to yield his lead and arrived in T2 alone.
When Middaugh arrived in T2 next, he did so alone and with a slender advantage over the chase. As he exited, the group containing Buc, Beaulieu, Binette and Anthony made their way to their running shoes. The Canadian Blake Harris had also made his way into the pack and hared after Middaugh with the others.
For the first few hundred metres, Middaugh powered along the run course. Notwithstanding the boldness of his attack, it soon became clear that his hopes were rapidly receding. Stuhlmacher was still ahead while the chase were closing fast.
Buc and Anthony looked particularly smooth, as befitted their continental Junior titles, and narrowed the gap with ease. However, it was Beaulieu that seized the initiative and began to pull away. Buc tried to go with him but could not. Anthony, meanwhile, seemed to lose a little of the flowing ease of his gait.
With the bit between his teeth, Beaulieu bounded after Stuhlmacher. Slowly but surely, he closed the gap. When his Canadian rival eventually pulled alongside, Stuhlmacher gritted his teeth and tried to pump his arms and extract more from his legs, but another gear could not be found.
Further back, Middaugh, Harris and Binette began to fade as Buc and Anthony chased Beaulieu. Yet the gap only grew.
With every step Beaulieu looked increasingly confident and he eased away from Stuhlmacher. He could afford to enjoy the final kilometre as it arrived and took the win by over 30 seconds.
After a mighty performance, Stuhlmacher held on for 2nd. Buc pulled away from Anthony in the final stages to seal the bronze medal. Anthony had to settle for 4th while Binette earned 5th.
With three Canadians and three Americans in the top-8, both countries should get a full quota of men’s slots at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg.
Women’s race
Although Sidney Clement set a ferocious pace in the water, the swim did little to shake up the main contenders in the women’s race.
Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza, Amando Moro and Naomi Ruff all managed to arrive in T1 within range of one another. Likewise Britney Brown, Julia Munhoz and Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott all produced strong splits to put themselves towards the front of the race.
In contrast to the men’s event, no one really broke clear in the water in the way that Stuhlmacher did. Instead, a select front pack of fourteen formed at the head of the field.
Jacome and De La Peña both stayed out of trouble; they kept near the front without having to take all of the responsibility of setting the pace. As two of the fastest runners on paper, they knew they simply had to stay upright and with the pack to unleash their strength.
However, others in the pack were not content to simply wait for a running race and the likes of Brown, Ruff and Munhoz all tried to up the tempo.
In the late stages of the bike, Jacome moved to the front and began to pressure the field. Brown and Ruff, as well as Moro, seemed to pay for their exertions a little but held on to the pack.
The pack therefore arrived intact into T2. Jacome was quick through transition, as was Faith Dasso, and jumped into an early lead on the run. De La Peña and Clement went with her early. Brown, Moro and Munhoz, however, paid for their efforts and lost touch with the leaders.
After pacing the opening salvo, Ruff moved ahead of Clement and formed a lead trio with Jacome and De La Peña. The Mexican athlete had already beaten the American in Sarasota earlier in the year but Ruff held firm throughout the run. Jacome, too, looked calm and collected in the face of De La Peña’s pace.
However, ever so gradually, De La Peña’s strength began to tell. The first hints of daylight emerged between Ruff and the others. Not long after, Jacome began to feel the heat too.
When De La Peña launched her decisive move, she ultimately had too much for her rivals and ran away to victory by 12 seconds. Jacome managed to respond the better of the two chasers and took the silver medal, beating Ruff in turn by 12 seconds.
Clement came home almost half a minute later in 4th while Cara Macdonald of Canada was 5th.
Canada, America and Mexico should all receive three women’s slots for the World Junior Championships following the results in Punta Cana. Look out for a full breakdown of the slots in the coming days.
View the full results here.
