After a Saturday of Olympic distance racing in Europe and Asia, Sunday’s Americas Cup saw a shift to Sprint racing. With lush jungle surrounding the course, Chinchiná made for a beautiful event location.
The morning start saw the temperature stay low and tolerable, although the warm water ensured a non-wetsuit swim was on the cards. As hosts Colombia had several hopes for medals, with one athlete in particular standing out.
Women’s race
Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto arrived in Chinchiná having gone unbeaten so far in 2023. As she lined up before the home crowd, a sea of expectant eyes descended upon her.
However, the start of the race did not go quite to script.
Liberty Ricca of America dropped a massive swim split to seize control of the race. Perhaps inspired by her compatriot Katie Zaferes’ example from recent Americas Cups, she clocked a time of 9:32 to emerge from the water completely alone.
Juri Ide was the next woman out in 9:49. Meanwhile Velasquez led the chase out in 10:03 with the Americas Aquathlon champion Marianny Giuseppina Antonelli Urriola and Raquel Solis Guerrero on her feet.
In the opening kilometres of the bike, Ricca was on a mission as she pushed the pace to defend her lead. For a spell, Ide simply could not get up to her.
Further back, however, Velasquez popped off and left the chase pack. Solis and Hiraku Fukuoka reacted and set off after Velasquez’s wheel, sensing the key move had been made. They were right.
Ide was caught and summarily passed. Soon after they breezed ahead of Ricca too to assume leadership of the race. After their hard work in the first half, Ricca and Ide were eventually caught by the chase pack.
Velasquez, though, attacked again. By the time she made it into T2, the extent of the damage was revealed; she had put a minute into Solis and Fukuoka.
For good measure, Velasquez added the fastest run of the day by over 30 seconds to win with ease. As she ran down the finish chute, she did so with the Colombian flag raised above her head and blowing in the wind. With the Huatulco World Cup next up, Velasquez’s golden form will face a stiff examination. On her latest showing, though, she is well-equipped to pass it.
While the gold vanished up the road, Fukuoka and Solis had a fight on their hands to seal the medals. They led the chase by half a minute in T2 but Maira Alejandra Vargas was quick to charge after them on the run.
Ricca and Alexandra Poole also pushed hard to close the gap.
Over the course of the 5km, Fukuoka could not hold onto Solis and slipped back. Vargas was the first to pass the Japaneses athlete. Several of the chase then did too which added a spring to their steps as they caught Solis’ scent.
With Ide behind her, Vargas found another gear. Willed on by the crowd, she drew closer and closer to Solis. Eventually, she caught her Costa Rican rival and pulled away to seal silver to make it a Colombian 1-2.
Solis had to settle for bronze and finished comfortably ahead of the rest of the chase.
Men’s race
The men’s swim followed the same pattern as the women’s.
Carter Stuhlmacher was immense in the water, logging a time of 8:46 to lead Flavio Morandini by 14 seconds. Aside from Morandini, no one else managed to get within half a minute of him. Stuhlmacher’s swim was reminiscent of his display at North American Junior Championships; front-running clearly suits his style.
Early on in the bike, Morandini drew alongside Stuhlmacher and the pair got to work.
Felix Duchampt of Romania, who wore number 1, lost 44 seconds to the young American in the water. A veteran of the sport, Duchampt knew not to panic, though.
With Duchampt at its head, a five man train set out from the station after T1.
Vitali Vorotnsov pulled some big turns as they worked to close the gap to the leaders. Andree Buc and Andres Barrionuevo were also part of the quintet while Carlos Javier Quinchara Forero cycled hard, determined to add a men’s medal for Colombia.
As much as Stuhlmacher and Morandini fought, they slowly succumbed to the power of the group behind. A front pack of seven therefore came together. As the rest of the 20km ticked by, there were a few small spikes in tempo as they tested one another’s legs. With the run approaching, Buc and Stuhlmacher rode as if they were the elders of the group.
Duchampt was flawless through T2 and inserted himself at the front of the run in the opening kilometre. After their hard work to stay ahead, Stuhlmacher and Morandini quickly fell behind. Barrionuevo was the next to crack. That left four men to fight for the medals.
The first of the two laps was mostly uneventful as the leading group glanced at one another and searched for any tell of fatigue. It was here that the experience of Duchampt shone through.
He amped up the pace and dared the others to retaliate. Vorontsov matched him but Buc and Quinchara started to struggle. Duchampt, though, was just getting started. He wound up the pace further still and really started to assert himself.
Finally, Vorontsov cracked, unable to hold on any longer. Clear to take the win, Duchampt was able to enjoy the final push for the line.
In an impressive showing, Vorontsov added another Americas Cup medal to go with his silver in Salinas. Shortly after, Buc summoned the final kick to break Colombian hearts and deny Quinchara by 4 seconds.
You can view the full results here.
