Is age just a number?
Last month, Pierre Le Corre earned his first ever WTCS gold medal with a brilliant performance in Sunderland at the age of 33. His achievement raises a question. How old have the oldest first-time winners in the WTCS been? To go with that, how young have the youngest first-time winners been?
In this article, then, we dive into the oldest and youngest first-time winners throughout the history of the WTCS.
The Oldest
As it turns out, Le Corre is in fact the oldest man to win a first WTCS gold medal.
He was over a year older than Bevan Docherty who had been the previous oldest first-time winner. Docherty took the win at WTCS Tongyeong back in 2009 at the age of 32. One thing to note is that 2009 was the first time the WTCS was held. As such, Docherty was a seasoned performer who earned his win at one of the first ever Series races. Had the WTCS existed earlier, there is a high chance that Docherty would have claimed his first win well before the age of 30.
By contrast, Le Corre’s win came after years of graft in the WTCS.
Brad Kahlefeldt was just shy of his 32nd birthday when he won WTCS Hamburg in 2011. Given Kahlefeldt’s success prior to 2009, particularly in an exceptional 2006, he also likely would have won a WTCS race at a younger age. At the same time, the fact his first win in the Series did not come until 2011 indicates that the likelihood of a younger win (while high) may have been lower than that of Docherty, who won almost instantly in the Series.
Stuart Hayes was 31 when he won a first WTCS race in Kitzbuehel in 2010.
Steffen Justus was then the final man over 30 to win a maiden WTCS gold medal. Whereas Kahlefeldt was a little short of his 32nd birthday, Justus has only just turned 30 when he won in Sydney in 2012.
Justus’ compatriot, Jan Frodeno, was the next oldest man to take a first win. The 2008 Olympic champion won in Yokohama in 2009. As with Docherty, there is a strong case to be made that Frodeno would have won a WTCS race at a younger age had the Series started sooner.
On a separate note, the honour of the oldest ever male WTCS race winner goes to Javier Gomez Noya. In Montreal in 2017, Gomez became took that title by winning a WTCS race at the age of 34.
Le Corre is not just the oldest man to win a first WTCS race; he is the oldest athlete to do so full stop.
To date, Sarah True is the oldest woman to have claimed a first gold medal. She did so at the age of 32 in Stockholm in 2014. In an interesting shift from the male data, True is actually one of two women to have won her first WTCS race over the age of 30.
By winning WTCS Abu Dhabi this year, Beth Potter became the second woman over 30 to win a race. She did so at the age of 31. Given that Potter was a relative latecomer to elite triathlon, her career has not quite followed the classic trajectory. Indeed she skipped the Junior and U23 ranks entirely. Given her recent success, it is no great stretch to image that in another life she would have won a first WTCS medal at a much younger age had she arrived in the sport earlier.
Anne Haug and Vicky Holland were both 29 when they won in Auckland and Cape Town, respectively.
Flora Duffy was 28 when she won in Stockholm in 2016. As an aside, Flora Duffy’s win at WTCS Abu Dhabi last November made her the oldest ever women’s race winner in the Series.
Sophie Coldwell’s win in Yokohama this year at the age of 28 also puts her in the top-6 in terms of oldest first-time winners.
In contrast to the men, who saw four of the oldest six first-time winners win their golds in the opening three iterations of the WTCS, all of the women’s first time winners have come since 2012.
Emma Jackson and Emma Snowsill each won their first races 10 years apart (in 2019 and 2009, respectively). Both did so, though, at almost an identical age (27.93 and 27.90). One interesting point to flag is that Jackson won silver medals in the Series in 2011, 2013 and 2014. As such, she could have potentially claimed a first win at a much younger age. In the end, she did so shortly before her 28th birthday.
The Youngest
On the other end of the scale, we can also look at the youngest winners in the WTCS.
Alistair Brownlee, the double Olympic champion, remains the youngest athlete to have ever won in the Series. He did so in Madrid in 2009, shortly after his 21st birthday. His brother, Jonathan, matched the feat in Lausanne two years later, although he was a couple of months older.
Casper Stornes was the only other man to win a WTCS race at the age of 21. He did so memorably in Bermuda in 2018. As a result, Stornes splits the Brownlee’s in terms of youngest winners as he was slightly younger than Jonathan Brownlee.
Tim Hellwig’s win in Hamburg in 2021 at the age of 22 makes him the fourth youngest first-time winner. Joao Silva was also 22 when he earned his first win in 2011 in Yokohama.
Alex Yee was 23 when he won in Leeds in 2021. But for the pandemic-induced cancellations in 2020, there is an argument to be made that he could have won a first race at the age of 22. Alas, we will never know.
Cassandre Beaugrand narrowly missed becoming the youngest ever winner in the WTCS when she stormed to victory in Hamburg in 2018. While Alistair Brownlee was 21.12 years old when he took his first win, Beaugrand was 21.16.
At the same time, Beaugrand only just edged out Paula Findlay when it comes to the youngest female winner. Findlay was 21.18 years old when she won in Edmonton in 2010.
Barbara Riveros and Daniel Ryf were 22 when they won their first races.
Meanwhile, Taylor Knibb was 23 when she won for the first time in Yokohama in 2021. As with Yee, a case could be made that Knibb could have won in 2020 without the cancellation of the Series which would have given her a win at the age of 22.
Finally, Non Stanford won in Madrid in 2013 at the age of 24 en route to becoming world champion.
Overall, then, the sweet spot for a first-time win appears to be between the ages of 24 and 28. Over half of the athletes to win a first WTCS race did so within that age range. Outside of those ages, it is still possible to win. After all, the names listed above prove it is possible. Yet the relative paucity of athletes to have won a first medal beyond the 24-28 range indicates that, if you want to win a WTCS gold, the time to strike may be in your mid-twenties.
