Did all of that really happen in one weekend?
A WTCS race, a European Cup, an African Cup, an Americas Cup, the first French Grand Prix race of the season, the World Junior qualifiers for Europe and the Americas and the World Para Series; that’s a lot of triathlon.
You can find the coverage of all of those events on TriStats. With so many things happening at once, here we will sift through some of the key stories you might have missed.
Nener books Asian Games slot
After finishing 11th at WTCS Yokohama, Kenji Nener booked his ticket to the Asian Games later this year. The Games will take place in Hangzhou and to qualify for Japan the athletes needed to finish inside the top-16.
Nener will be making his first appearance at the event having only switched his sporting nationality to Japan in late 2018.
He will also be able to travel to Hangzhou with confidence. Yokohama represented his best ever Olympic distance WTCS finish.
His team mate Takumi Hojo narrowly missed out on automatic selection as he finished 19th. As the next best Japanese performer in Yokohama, he may still be picked for the Asian Games.
On the women’s side, none of the Japanese athletes managed to finish in the top-16 and so will rely on discretionary selections by the Japanese federation.
Zaferes up to 75th in the world
One of the ongoing narratives of the season is the return of Katie Zaferes.
In the space of a short couple of months, she has already gained over 100 places in the World Rankings and now sits in 75th place. A win at the Americas Cup in Punta Cana at the weekend followed another in St. Peters from April. At both races, she was brilliant in the water and on the bike and spent the entirety of both races alone.
With her current form, Zaferes can be expected to rise further still.
She currently only has four of a possible six scoring races (in the past twelve months) towards her rankings and so can add two more events. Thereafter it will be a case of adding scores higher than those she has already logged. With two more results like St. Peters and Punta Cana, she could rise into the top-50 in the world and draw close to Gina Sereno, the next American woman ahead of her, in 44th.
The higher Zaferes rises, the likelier she will be able to make WTCS start lists. In turn that will help her earn more points which will help her ranking, and so forth.
Unlike most countries, though, America has serious depth in the women’s side. Even Sereno often ends up on WTCS wait lists as she is the sixth ranked American woman (generally there are five slots at most per country at WTCS events). Zaferes will therefore have to turn her sights to Erica Ackerlund who currently lies in 25th.
However, that is for the future. At this point in time, Zaferes’ comeback has been a resounding success and she has built a strong launchpad for the rest of her year. Her efforts thus far should be applauded.
Coninx earns slot for Paris Test Event
In order to be sure of racing for France at the Paris Test Event, Dorian Coninx and his compatriots had to finish in the top-5 at WTCS Yokohama. They will also have the same opportunity at WTCS Cagliari.
Coninx, though, was in no mood to wait and booked his slot with a brilliant 4th place in Yokohama. At the finish he was out-sprinted for a medal but otherwise produced a fine all-round performance.
After experiencing somewhat of an inconsistent year in 2022, Coninx has now returned to form with finishes of 5th and 4th to start his 2023 WTCS campaign. His swim and run have been impressive at both WTCS Abu Dhabi and WTCS Yokohama and he is now loudly knocking on the door of another medal.
With his Paris slot secured, he will be able to relax a little more with his racing in Cagliari. With the pressure off, Coninx could well do something special.
Eim and Lehair rip massive run splits
At WTCS Yokohama, the fastest run split of the day did not go to the race winner, Sophie Coldwell. Nor did it go to Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal after her outstanding final two laps on the run. Even pre-race favourites Georgia Taylor-Brown and Emma Lombardi did not manage it.
The fastest runner at the women’s race in Yokohama was none other than Nina Eim. After achieving her best ever WTCS finish in Abu Dhabi, Eim arrived in Yokohama in form. However, she endured a difficult swim and spent much of her race fruitlessly trying to make up time from the third chase pack.
For many, that would have signalled the end of her day. Eim, though, had other ideas. She roared through the field with a time of 33:27 to end up in 11th place. Given the conditions, that was a remarkable 10km split.
Eim’s running speed is no surprise; as a teenager she was a talented sprinter and has since recorded some sizzling splits in Sprint races. Yokohama, though, was the first time she really produced that kind of speed over the Olympic distance in the WTCS. After not racing an Olympic distance WTCS race last season, Eim will need to be watched closely this year.
Similarly, Lehair produced an awesome split of 33:30 to earn the second fastest run of the field.
Lehair’s time should be no great surprise after some of the running results he posted in the off-season, particularly at the French Cross Country Championships. Her time in Yokohama saw her jump to 12th at the finish. Lehair also had a great showing at the European Cup in Quarteira.
As with Eim, she is on course for a big season.
Swiss men’s battle hots up
Where do we start?
Adrien Briffod had a fantastic race in Yokohama to finish 6th. For much of the run, he was up with the eventual medallists and looked at his best. Although he had run a solid 5km in Lausanne beforehand, his performance in Japan was at another level.
Briffod had already finished 10th at WTCS Abu Dhabi and with his Yokohama result moves into 22nd in the Olympic rankings.
Crucially, that makes him the leading Swiss man.
The athlete he overtook, Sylvain Fridelance, sits in 31st, less than 200 points behind Briffod. Moreover Simon Westermann enjoyed his best ever WTCS finish in Yokohama as he finished 20th. In doing so he has risen to 50th in the Olympic rankings. In between Fridelance and Westermann is Max Studer in 37th. With a race win to his name already this year, Studer will also be a dangerous proposition.
Four men will not be able to squeeze into what is rapidly looking like three Olympic slots. The Swiss race to Paris will therefore be a fascinating storyline to track going forwards.
Marten Van Riel makes his return
In one of the feel-good stories of the weekend, Marten Van Riel made his first start in an elite triathlon since June 2022. An oedema had kept him out for much of 2022 and he shared some of the hardship he experienced psychologically around his injury.
With minimal running behind him, he was finally able to race again in Yokohama. Nor did he simply race. Van Riel pieced together a marvellous performance to take 13th place.
With Van Riel back, Belgium’s Mixed Team Relay hopes have been boosted and the battle for the Belgian Olympic team will intensity. More important than that, though, is the return of an athlete capable of lighting up races and one that has suffered for a long time with injury.
Notwithstanding his projectile vomiting at the finish line (something the cameraman seemed very keen to capture), Van Riel’s return was a moment to savour.
