The same combination of an Asian Games gold and being the continent’s leading WTCS performer that made Kenji Nener the Asian Male Triathlete of the Year was enough to determine the recipient of the female mantle. One achievement that the women’s winner added was a World Cup medal, ensuring that she ticked several boxes in 2023.
Yuko Takahashi (JPN)
Yuko Takahashi arrived in Hangzhou as the defending Asian Games champion. After a superb swim, she all but shut the door on anyone taking her title before anyone else had made it into T1.
Then, having extended her lead on the bike, Takahashi won the gold. She led for every moment of the race. Shortly after, she added a World Cup silver in Tongyeong. In South Korea, she was in fine form and went toe-to-toe against Gwen Jorgensen and Tereza Zimovjanova for the gold.
On the WTCS front, Takahashi was the top female Asian performer in the Series, finishing 35th overall. No one else from the region made it into the top-50. An 11th place in Sunderland and a 14th place in Pontevedra helped to bump Takahashi up a few places and those two results were the best of any Asian athlete not called Kenji Nener.
Takahashi, then, was by quite a margin the leading Asian female triathlete of 2023.
Honourable Mentions
Ekaterina Shabalina won the Asian Championships over the Sprint distance, serving notice of her rising profile. Furthermore she claimed Continental Cup wins in Cholpon-Ata and Wels and broke into top-50 in the world rankings. Having established a firm grasp on the Asia New Flag Olympic slot, Shabalina should be able to look towards an appearance at the Paris Olympics and take her next steps up the triathlon ladder.
Xinyu Lin finished behind Takashi and Shabalina as she earned double Asian Championships silver after taking 2nd place at the Asian Games and over the Sprint distance in Saudi Arabia. To go with that, Lin produced impressive World Cup performances, taking 4th place Tongyeong and 5th place in Miyazaki. She also won the Hong Kong Asia Cup at start of the year.
Lin thus led the charge for Chinese triathlon and could be at the forefront of the country’s growth in the sport for years to come.
Niina Kishimoto also logged two top-5 World Cup finishes as she placed 5th in both Weihai and Yeongdo. She also took two Asia Cup wins, in Osaka and Sejong, respectively. While Takahashi may be at the top of the Japanese triathlon tree right now, Kishimoto offered plenty of evidence in 2023 that she could rival her compatriot in the near future.
Indeed, a takeaway of this year has been the growing depth in the ranks of the Asian women. Takahashi will thus have to maintain her high standards if she is to stay ahead of her rivals.
