Across the multiple races at the weekend, there were several stories that flew under the radar. While much of the attention was drawn by Csongor Lehmann’s coronation in Tiszaujvaros, Fanni Szalai’s domination of the European Junior Cup and the racing at the World Para Series in Montreal (report to follow), there were several other notable things to happen.
Read on below, then, to find five recent stories you might have missed in the world of triathlon.
Peñaflor and Velasquez win in El Salvador
At the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, Aram Michel Peñaflor Moysen and Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto took the wins.
Racing over the Olympic distance, the event offered a chance for regional bragging rights and showcased some of the rising powerhouses in the sport.
Peñaflor of Mexico was part of a five man group that broke away in the swim. Luis Miguel Velasquez Ramos of Venezuela set the pace while Crisanto Grajales, Matthew Wright and Alvaro Campos Solano were also towards the front.
Together, that lead quintet turned a 20 second advantage into an insurmountable gap of almost 3 minutes on the bike. Towards the end of the course, Wright still had the strength to launch a move and gain a small gap over his rivals. Peñaflor and Grajales were quick to limit the damage but the man from Barbados arrived in T2 with a definite lead.
Over the run, though, Peñaflor quickly wiped away the deficit. He hit the front early on and did not look back. With an outstanding split, the fastest of the field by exactly 60 seconds, Peñaflor soared to the gold medal. After a recent bronze medal at the Huatulco World Cup, Peñaflor has really hit his stride in the summer and could be a name to watch for the rest of the season.
A minute later, Grajales crossed the line to make it a 1-2 for Mexico. Wright held on for bronze.
In the women’s event, a similar patten unfolded.
Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal led the way in the water with Diana Castillo and Tapia’s compatriot, Cecilia Perez, close behind. Although seven athletes arrived into T1 together, only five made it into the ensuing front pack. Velasquez and Leslie Amat Alvarez put in big turns on the bike to lead the way as the quintet stayed clear.
Having been pipped to the fastest bike split by Amat, Velasquez ripped the fastest run split by 45 seconds to secure the gold. Tapia was the next to cross the line while Perez claimed the bronze medal.
Later in the Games, Mexico were able to field all four of their medallists in the Mixed Team Relay. Once Peñaflor got them off to a 25 second lead over their next closest rivals (Venezuela) in the first leg, they did not look back. Mexico subsequently won by a crushing margin of 2 minutes 21 seconds.
After a brilliant anchor leg from Velasquez, Colombia was able to beat Cuba to the silver medal.
German relay title claimed by Buschhütten
On Friday, prior to the Bundesliga races of the weekend, the German Mixed Relay Championships were settled between the first division teams.
Such was the heat, the water levels had dropped to a mere 1.1m, making for a much shallower swim than expected. The starts therefore demanded more belly-flops than usual in the interests of safety (and style).
As they had done all season prior to Düsseldorf, Buschhütten claimed a comprehensive victory.
Jonas Schomburg kicked off their race with an impressive leg while Tanja Neubert and then Johannes Vogel followed. Lisa Tertsch, the newly-crowned German champion, sealed the deal on the final leg.
The silver went to Witten. Samuel Linsemeier got the team started and handed over to Marlene Gomez-Göggel. The bronze medallist from the individual race then passed the invisible baton on to Max Meckel. Anabel Knoll then brought the team home.
Team Berlin held on for the bronze medal.
Prestia’s World Cup breakthrough
While Bianca Seregni lit up the women’s final at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup with her bold breakaway, it was another Italian athlete that came away with the country’s best result.
Angelica Prestia scored 4th place in a breakthrough performance. The Italian Junior champion from 2020 and 2021 had a previous best World Cup finish of 16th from Valencia last year.
Until the final stages of the run, Prestia was firmly in the mix for the gold. A late surge by Jolien Vermeylen put her on the back foot and she lost contact with the leaders. Nevertheless, she held on to seal 4th place ahead of the European Games champion, Solveig Løvseth. In the end, Prestia was only 6 seconds away from a bronze medal.
Her result should provide a handy boost to her world ranking. Prior to Tiszaujvaros, she was ranked 174th in the world. Her 4th place should nudge her into the top-150. Most significantly, she is the youngest Italian woman in the top-200 and could be a key athlete for the country in the future.
In the shorter term, the young Italian will next race at the European Super Sprint Championships in Balikesir. As the defending U23 silver medallist from 2022, she has enjoyed success over the format before. Based on her showing in Tiszaujvaros, she could a contender not only for the U23 win in Turkey, but the Senior win too.
Vermeylen racing into Olympic picture
The race for the Belgian Olympic slots just got very interesting.
Over the past fortnight, Jolien Vermeylen has been on an absolute tear. She won the bronze medal at the European Games in Krakow and then claimed a win at the European Cup in Holten.
At the weekend, she added another bronze, this time at the World Cup in Tiszaujvaros.
On its own, her recent slew of medals have been seriously impressive. At all three races she showcased her swimming speed. What really stood out, though, was how maturely constructed her performances. Although she was fast in the water, she did not feel pressured to over-extend herself; being in the top-3 was enough.
Furthermore her run has showed plenty of promise, not least when she out-kicked Rachel Klamer in Holten.
It is in the bigger picture, though, that Vermeylen’s recent form is most consequential.
After her bronze in Krakow, she climbed 10 places in the Olympic qualification rankings to 47th. Ahead of her lie two fellow Belgians. Valerie Bathelemy is in 37th place while Claire Michel is a spot back in 38th. The former had 1829 points while the latter had 1806. Vermeylen, meanwhile, sat on 1745.
However, a bronze medal in Tiszaujvaros should add roughly 330 points to her total. As a result, barely 50 points will cover the three Belgian women when the updated rankings come out.
Realistically, Belgium will have two slots for the Paris Olympics (unless all three women can get into the top-30 of the Olympic rankings). In what is shaping up to an extremely close race, all of a sudden Vermeylen might have become the athlete with the hot hand.
Bronze for Le Corre at 70.3 Les Sables
When he hasn’t been popping up in the top-5 of WTCS events this season, Pierre Le Corre has been making a name for himself in the middle distance scene.
A win at the Infinitri 113 Triathlon Peñíscola earlier in the year gave a clear indication for his proclivity for the longer format.
Recently, he was back at it as he won a bronze medal at the 70.3 Les Sables. In all all-French podium, Le Corre finished in 3:50:31, 4 minutes 20 seconds behind the winner Leon Chevalier and 3 minutes 3 seconds behind Arnaud Guilloux.
Across the race, Le Corre split 24:01 for the swim, 2:09:34 for the bike and 1:12:27 for the run. Afterwards he noted that he did not stick to his nutrition strategy and therefore had to walk for parts of the run.
Le Corre has had quite the eclectic season. In addition to his middle distance success, he finished 5th place at WTCS Cagliari which earned him a place at the Paris Olympic Test Event in August. He will therefore have a chance to seal a potential place at next year’s Olympic Games. Moreover he won the World Military Championships and medalled at the French Grand Prix in Fréjus.
In 2023, then, Le Corre has done a bit of everything. Over the next few weeks, as his attention turns to Paris, he will hope his exploits all come together to deliver the highlight of his campaign.
