Before Abu Dhabi, we wrote an article that suggested some of the athletes that could rise up the standings in the World Triathlon Championship Series with a big result in Abu Dhabi. Some of those suggestions were accurate, some were not and there were some athletes that caught us completely by surprise.
The Men
Morgan Pearson was the biggest riser in the men’s field as he jumped 81 places to take 33rd in the Series. His silver medal in Abu Dhabi was a remarkable comeback after a difficult year of injury. Indeed, his last WTCS race was in Abu Dhabi 12 months prior.
Pearson’s compatriot Matthew McElroy took 19th place overall, gaining 11 places with his 10th place in Abu Dhabi. McElroy was one of the athletes we thought could gain places and a top-20 overall finish represents a good season. A s a former WTCS medallist, he will be one to watch in 2023.
Matthew Hauser jumped from 10th to 6th with his impressive result in the Final. Meanwhile, Sergio Baxter Cabrera broke into the top-50 in the world, taking 49th, with his 15th place in Abu Dhabi.
The Women
Lena Meissner rocketed from 29th in the Series to 14th with her bronze medal in Abu Dhabi. In a brilliant performance, she blew away her previous best WTCS performance from Bermuda (2022).
Similarly, one of Meissner’s key allies in the breakaway, Vittoria Lopes, was rewarded with a best ever WTCS finish. With her 6th place, Lopes rose from 30th to 18th in the Series.
One of the most impressive rises, though, came from Leonie Periault. After an extremely challenging year she jumped from 39th to 21st with her 5th place. We noted Periault before the race as an athlete that could rise. At the start of the year, she took a tremendous silver medal in Yokohama, beating Flora Duffy. However she was waylaid at various points during the season which saw her enter Abu Dhabi without a full quota of WTCS starts.
After logging the second best run of the elite women’s field, Periault will hopefully bounce back and suffer less misfortune in 2023.
