One of the lesser reported stories of WTCS Abu Dhabi was that Georgia Taylor-Brown lost her streak of WTCS medals. After 8 consecutive medals, she finished 15th.
No one wants to be the grump that points such a statistic out. Moreover Taylor-Brown was clearly still in heavy training and will no doubt have a fantastic season.
This article is not about Taylor-Brown’s day in Abu Dhabi, though. Rather, it is inspired by her run of success that preceded it.
8 medals in a row is a phenomenal achievement. We wanted to investigate whether anyone has matched or surpassed it.
For the purposes of this article, “consecutive” is measured by an athlete’s appearances rather than by the chronological progression of races. For example, if an athlete medalled at WTCS Hamburg in 2022, then missed WTCS Cagliari and then medalled at WTCS Bermuda, that would be treated as medalling in consecutive races.
By contrast, if an athlete medalled at WTCS Yokohama, then did not finish at WTCS Leeds but then medalled at WTCS Montreal, that would not constistute consecutive medals.
The focus, then, is on the athletes as opposed to the races.
With that in mind, which athlete has medalled at the most consecutive races?
To make the list below, an athlete has to have medalled in at least 3 consecutive WTCS events.
Women
In total, twenty women have managed a streak of 3 or more medals.
As she was the inspiration behind this article, we will start with Taylor-Brown. Her 8 medal haul currently ranks as the joint second longest medal streak in WTCS history. Her run started at the 2019 WTCS Final in Lausanne and her final medal came at the 2022 Final in Abu Dhabi.
Matching Taylor-Brown with 8 medals are Emma Moffatt and Flora Duffy.
Moffatt won her 8 medals between the 2009 WTCS race in Tongyeong and the 2010 race in Hamburg. Meanwhile, Duffy’s streak came between the 2016 WTCS Final in Cozumel and the 2017 Final in Rotterdam. Such was her dominance in 2017, it is not really surprising in hindsight that she ran away with the world title.
Interestingly, Duffy is currently on a 3 race streak (from WTCS Hamburg 2022 to the Abu Dhabi Final last year). She will be looking to extend that when she starts her season this year.
However, when it comes to the longest medal streak as well as the longest current streak, there is only one winner.
Between WTCS Cape Town in 2014 and WTCS Cozumel in 2016, Gwen Jorgensen won an astonishing 18 straight WTCS medals. Moreover, as she retired after Cozumel, her streak is technically still active. Should Jorgensen race in the WTCS this year, she will have the opportunity to make her streak 19 races strong.
Jorgensen has already kick-started her season with a silver medal at an Oceania Cup. Next weekend she will be racing her first World Cup since her return and so is quietly building towards her WTCS comeback.
The fifth athlete in the women’s streak rankings in 2019 world champion Katie Zaferes.
Between WTCS Montreal 2018 and WTCS Montreal 2019 Zaferes won 7 straight medals. Her success in 2019 went a long way to securing her maiden world title.
Five women then tie for sixth place with 4 consecutive medals.
Lisa Norden was one of the first athletes to set a streak as she medalled at 4 races between WTCS Hamburg and WTCS Gold Coast in 2009.
Andrea Hansen (formerly Andrea Hewitt) completed her streak of 4 medals between Lausanne (2011) and Sydney (2012). Whereas WTCS Sydney in 2012 was the final race of Hansen’s streak, it was also the starting point of another streak. Between WTCS Sydney (2012) and WTCS Cape Town in 2014, Helen Jenkins won 4 WTCS medals.
The other two streaks of 4 medals then came in 2013 in what was one of the tightest battles for the women’s world title on record.
Jodie Stimpson won 4 medals between WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Hamburg that year. Likewise, Anne Haug won 4 medals between WTCS Madrid and WTCS Stockholm in 2013.
The athletes with 3 consecutive WTCS medals are:
- Nicola Spirig
- Paula Findley
- Erin Densham
- Vicky Holland
- Non Stanford
- Maaike Caelers
- Ashleigh Gentle
- Jessica Learmonth
- Summer Rappaport
- Taylor Knibb
Interestingly, none of the women with 3 straight medals are on an active streak. As a result, only Jorgensen and Duffy are currently in a position to build upon a streak of at least 3 medals this year.
Men
Twelve men have managed a streak of three of more medals.
Jonathan Brownlee leads the way by dint of his 13 straight medals. His run of form started in 2010 at WTCS London and his final medal came at WTCS Madrid in 2013. That run encompassed his sole world title in 2012.
The only athlete that can beat that is Jorgensen and it is interesting to compare the two. Jorgensen’s streak came in a period of unparalleled dominance in which she won two world titles and Olympic gold. A number of brilliant athletes went up against her and some managed to beat her, such as Helen Jenkins in Gold Coast in 2016. Jorgensen, though, simply had a unique period of supremacy.
By contrast, Brownlee’s run came in one of the most hotly contested periods of the men’s WTCS. Between 2010 and 2013, Jonathan Brownlee competed against Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez Noya in what was arguably each man’s peak.
While Jorgensen won her races more often than not in her streak, Brownlee took more silver and bronze medals largely as a consequence of the closer competition.
As if to demonstrate that level of competition, Alistair Brownlee has the second longest medal streak. Between WTCS Madrid 2010 and WTCS Stockholm 2013, he won 10 straight medals. Due to his repeated problem with injuries, his streak is the longest time-wise.
The fact that it perfectly coincides with Jonathan Brownlee’s best streak suggests that the Brownlees extracted the best from one another in races and reinforces the point of the competitiveness of that era.
Javier Gomez Noya sits in third in the list with 8 consecutive medals. His streak matches the likes of Moffatt, Duffy and Taylor-Brown. It started in Auckland (2015) and the final medal of Gomez’s streak came at the WTCS Final in Chicago in the same year. As with Duffy in 2017, it was therefore no great shock that Gomez won the 2015 world title.
Mario Mola is fourth on the list with a streak of 7. His run started at WTCS Yokohama in 2018 and the last medal came at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2019. Given that 6 of Mola’s medals in that run came in 2018, his world title that year was not in any real danger.
In the women’s field, five women completed a streak of over 4 medals but the men’s list stops there with Mola.
Instead, Vincent Luis and Hayden Wilde sit tied in 5th place with 4 medals.
Somewhat surprisingly, Luis’ best form came in 2015 rather than in 2019 when he won his first world title. Luis won 4 straight medals between WTCS Abu Dhabi 2015 and WTCS Hamburg. However, he could not stop the Gomez train that year.
Similarly, Hayden Wilde won 4 medals between WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Hamburg in 2022. That did not ultimately carry him to the world title.
Only six men have accomplished a streak of 3 WTCS medals. They are:
- Joao Silva
- Richard Murray
- Fernando Alarza
- Kristian Blummenfelt
- Léo Bergere
- Jan Frodeno
On a separate note, there are no active streaks in the men’s WTCS field today. To a degree, this indicates just how deep the field has become as any one of a dozen men could realistically medal at any given race.
In either the men’s or the women’s fields, will we ever see another athlete achieve 10 straight medals? If the history of the WTCS is anything to go by, it will be an extraordinarily difficult challenge.
