In an Olympic year, everyone finds something extra in pursuit of their place at the big show in the summer. At the first World Cup of the 2024 season, that truth was plain to see as Sophie Linn stormed to victory and sent a clear message to the Australian selectors.
Choppy conditions awaited the field in the 750m sea swim and not all the athletes were able to come to terms with the waves. Two that had no problems, though, were Sophie Alden and Olivia Mathias. Fresh from a training camp in Australia with the Loughborough squad, the British pair led out of water. Alden clocked 9:54 while Mathias followed in 9:56.
Emma Jeffcoat and Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer followed but Alden and Mathias quickly powered ahead on the bike. At times in the first lap it looked as if they were set to break free from the rest of the field entirely. Eventually, though, they were caught as a front pack of eight came together at the front.
Bragmayer and Jeffcoat were among the names in the lead group, as was Linn. Melanie Santos, Paulina Klimas and home hopeful Eva Goodisson likewise made it to the front pack.
Over the 20km, the leaders shut the door on the rest of the field. They built up a lead of a minute and it was clear the medals would come from the front pack.
Having looked so strong in the water and in the early stages of the bike, Alden and Mathias seemed set to take over on the run. Yet it was Bragmayer that struck out early. The Hungarian athlete pushed the opening few hundred metres to fragment the pack.
Alden, Mathias and Linn managed to make it up to her heels but the rest of the pack were cut loose.
Before long, Linn, Alden and Mathias moved ahead of Bragmayer. Although a medal seemed to be in sight, Linn was not content to stop there. She continued to push and managed to eke out a gap to her British rivals.
With 2.5km to go the Australian led by 4 seconds and simply had to hang on. However, the British pair were also charging.
Alden mustered a slight lead over Mathias and had Linn in her sights. In the final kilometre, though, Mathias clawed her way back until the pair were essentially level on the blue carpet.
At the front, Linn was unstoppable. She grew her lead to 8 seconds and held on to claim a memorable victory. Her last international victory was at an Oceania Cup in Gold Coast almost two years ago and with Olympic selection looming she picked a perfect moment to offer proof of what she can do.
In the fight for silver, Mathias appeared to nudge ahead but Alden summoned a final surge to beat her teammate by a single second. Santos then ran through to claim 4th place and Bragmayer took 5th.
Based on the action already on offer at the season opener at the world level, expect plenty of athletes to step up their game this year as the race to Paris enters its final furlong.
You can view the full results here.
