The World Junior Championships are a huge opportunity in any young athlete’s career to mark themselves out as one to watch. Success at the world level is usually a good barometer for future potential and one big race could provide lock down and security from a national federation for several years thereafter.
In this article, we will be looking at who’s who on the women’s start list from Africa and the Americas. You can view the breakdown of the European women here. You can also check out who will be racing on the men’s side for the Americas and Africa here.
As with the men, the Americas received 14 slots for Hamburg while 4 were reserved for athletes from Africa.
Americas
Brazil will be sending two women to Hamburg. The elder of the two, Amanda Moro, won a silver medal at the South American Junior Championships after taking consecutive 5th places at the race in 2021 and 2022. She then finished 8th at the Americas Junior Qualification Event in Punta Cana.
Moro has shown herself to be well-balanced across all three disciplines, although her swim and bike appear to be slightly better than he run at this point.
Last year’s Brazilian Junior champion, she also finished 25th at the 2022 World University Championships. While that championship experience should come in handy, Hamburg will represent her first race in Europe.
Joining Moro will be her predecessor as Brazilian Junior champion, Julia Munhoz. Munhoz was disqualified from the South American Junior Championships in Lima. She then finished 10th in Punta Cana. At both races she performed well, however she still seems to be searching for her level from last season.
In 2022, she was the South American Junior champion. One of her most impressive results, though, was a 7th place at the Americas Cup in Viña del Mar. That is not to say she has underperformed this year. Munhoz added a 14th place at the Americas Cup (and South American Championships) in Villarrica after all.
If she can regain her 2022 levels, though, Munhoz will be a major threat to the podium.
Meanwhile, the Canadian team are replete with medal contenders.
Sidney Clement won the silver medal at the North American Junior Championships earlier this year. To go with that, she finished 4th in Punta Cana. Based on those two results alone, it is easy to see her fighting for a medal.
Last year, Clement finished 23rd at the World Junior Championships in Montreal as one of the younger athletes in the field. The experience of Montreal should stand her in good stead in Hamburg. Moreover, while she is good across all three disciplines, her swim might be her strong suit right now.
A strong swim will likely help her dictate the race a little more, particularly in light of the speed in the water of some of her European rivals.
It is a similar story with Cara Macdonald. The oldest member of the Canadian trio finished 4th at the North American Junior Championships in Sarasota and 5th in Punta Cana. Her profile is akin to that of Clement and Macdonald is a classy swimmer. The one question mark over her at this point is whether she possesses that extra burst of speed on the run that will separate those that win a medal from the rest.
On the other hand, Macdonald only made her first international start this year (which came in Sarasota). She therefore has plenty of headspace to improve.
Beatrice Normand is the youngest member of the Canadian women’s team. She finished 8th in Sarasota and 11th in Punta Cana. In addition, at the 2022 Americas Junior Championships in Montevideo she also came away with 12th place despite her age. Hamburg might be a case of building for the future for Normand, although she could surprise a few people.
Chile will only be sending one woman to Hamburg. What they lack in numbers, they more than make up for in terms of gold medal potential.
Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza is the current South American Junior champion and has a big chance of winning the World Junior title. At the Junior level, she finished 2nd in Punta Cana after putting together a brilliant all-round display.
Jacome has also impressed in Senior races this year. She finished 4th at the Americas Cup in Villarrica, which doubled as the South American Championships over the Olympic distance, and earned 6th place at the Americas Cup in Salinas.
In 2022, she also finished 11th at the South American Games in Asuncion. Her swim held up against much older athletes and she rode with the likes of Luisa Baptista and Djenyfer Arnold. Her run tailed off that day which is understandable given how much less experienced she was than her rivals.
At the Senior level, Jacome’s swim has not quite put her in the front pack. However, she should be in and around the front of the race in the water in Hamburg. Furthermore, she will be one of the best cyclists in the field. And if her run is competitive against seasoned professionals, it will be a threat against the best Juniors.
Leading the way for Mexico, though, will be the athlete that beat Jacome in Punta Cana.
Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott also won the North American Junior Championships to make it two wins from two this year. Perhaps most impressively, at the end of last year she finished 12th at the Vina del Mar World Cup. That result alone could well be the best Senior result of any woman racing in Hamburg.
To add the cherry on top, she won medals at the Americas Cups in Long Beach and Santa Marta in 2022.
De La Peña will be racing at the Huatulco World Cup this weekend so will arrive in Hamburg sharp. As one of the best runners starting at the World Junior Championships, she will inevitably be tough to beat.
Joining De La Peña will be María López Faraudo. López won a bronze medal at the Americas Junior Championships in 2022 and is a dark horse for the podium.
She admittedly will give away a bit of time in the swim and bike. However, once she gets onto the run, she will likely drop one of the fastest splits of the race. This year she finished 7th in Punta Cana and that race is a good case study for how López races. In the water, she was not quite up to speed yet her run was tremendous.
If she can limit her losses in the water, she could be up in the medal hunt with De La Peña.
Karen Guadalupe Castro Rivas is the third member of the Mexican team and finished 14th in Punta Cana. One notable fact about Castro is that she has actually raced internationally as a Senior more often than as a Junior. Punta Cana was her only start as a Junior whereas she started at two Americas Cups in 2022. Her best result of the two was a 20th place in Long Beach.
Castro is definitely the best swimmer of the Mexican team. If she can use that to her strength in Hamburg, she could find herself in a breakaway group which could transform her chances.
We then come to the Americans.
Naomi Ruff won bronze medals in both Sarasota and Punta Cana. Given her recent hit rate, she has to be in the conversation for a medal in Hamburg. To go with her bronzes, Ruff also finished 16th at the Americas Cup in Ixtapa.
Ruff is a well-rounded athlete with a similar profile to Sidney Clement of Canada. Indeed Clement got the better of Ruff in Sarasota whereas the American edged out the Canadian in Punta Cana.
A medal should be in Ruff’s sights. However, to go for gold, she may need to try something a little bolder as leaving her race until the late stages of the run will leave her vulnerable to the likes of Jacome and De La Peña. The conundrum for Ruff, then, is whether to risk not medalling in pursuit of the win or to play it safe and risk settling for bronze.
Last year, Ruff finished 21st at the World Junior Championships in Montreal. Her teammate Faith Dasso, however, out-performed her in at last year’s championships and will also be starting in Hamburg.
Dasso finished 14th in Montreal and was the runner-up at the Americas Junior Championships last year. To complete a remarkable 2022 season, she also won a silver medal at the European Junior Cup in Düsseldorf.
So far this year, Ruff has gotten the better of Dasso; the latter finished 5th in Sarasota and 6th in Punta Cana.
Dasso, though, has all of the ability to get onto the podium in Hamburg. On paper, Ruff might have a slight edge on the run while Dasso is a little more speed in the water, although we are talking about fine margins on both fronts.
There is therefore a good chance an American woman ends up on the podium, yet it is hard to say who it will be.
Indeed, it could well be the third member of the team, Clara James-Heer. Although her finishes of 9th in Sarasota and 16th in Punta Cana were not quite at the same level of her compatriots, James-Heer was born in 2006. Being the younger athlete, she could make a big leap forward over the summer.
If James-Heer finds another gear on the run, she could become a medal contender in no time.
The final two Americas slots were due to be taken by Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. However, neither have yet entered athletes and so it is unclear whether they will retain their places.
Africa
South Africa earned three women’s slots for the World Junior Championships.
Leading the way will be Anika Visser, the current South Africa Junior champion and the holder of the African Junior title from 2022. Visser has logged a couple of noteworthy performances at the Senior level this year. At the African Cup in Maselspoort, she finished 8th. A little later in the year, she finished 12th at the African Cup in Swakopmund.
At this stage, Visser’s primary strength is her run. Indeed, at the Senior level, her swim and bike were exposed a little bit. Going by the strength of the start list, her bike should be fine in Hamburg however her swim could be a point of vulnerability. With her running speed, though, Visser should be able to make up a lot of ground at the end of the race.
Kadence Ribbink won a silver medal behind Visser at the South African Junior Championships. Whereas her compatriot elected to tackle a couple of African Cups, Ribbink has mainly stayed at the Junior level, winning the African Junior Cups in Swakopmund, Maselspoort and Troutbeck along the way.
At last year’s African Junior Championships, Ribbink won a silver medal (again behind Visser) and has been a consistent force on the African scene. Hamburg will therefore offer her a first chance to test herself against the best Juniors globally. She will be stepping up from being a big fish in a small pond but she has the ability to make a good fist of it.
The youngest of the South African women is Lomé Gouws. Born in 2007, Gouws has collected silver medals behind Ribbink in Maselspoort and Troutbeck, as well as a bronze medal at the South African Junior Championships.
Given her age, it would be a little unfair to expect too much from Gouws in Hamburg. For her, the best thing to do will be to race hard and try to learn as much as possible from the experience. She will still be eligible for the World Junior Championships in 2026, so time is on her side.
The final African slot was earned by Zimbabwe, however the federation has not yet filled it. It therefore remains to be seen whether they will be able to utilise the place or if it will be added to World Triathlon’s invites.
