As talented as the women of Europe, Africa and the Americas are, there are a couple of names from Asia and Oceania that have to been mentioned when it comes to discussing potential winners at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg.
In this article, we therefore present the final women’s who’s who of the start lists. You can view part 1 for Europe here and part 2 covering the Americas and Africa here.
In total, 8 slots were available to federations from Asia while 5 were available to those from Oceania.
Asia
Hong Kong earned two slots for Hamburg as a result of their performances at last year’s Asian Junior Championships.
The first of the slots has been taken by Zoe Metais, the Asian Youth champion from 2022. This year Metais has raced at a number of Asia Cups, earning best finishes of 19th in Hong Kong and 23rd in Osaka. She is definitely one of the better swimmers on the start list and will look to maximise the first discipline in Hamburg.
At times in Senior races, Metais has struggled with the level of cycling. However, that should have prepared her for Hamburg and she can be expected to be ready to push the pace throughout the event.
Pauline Courret is the second representative from Hong Kong. Last year she finished 2nd behind Metais at the Asian Youth Championships having been denied in a sprint finish. To go with that, she finished 4th at the Asian Junior Championships and claimed a noteworthy 11th place at the Asia Cup in Manama in December.
This season, Courret’s best showing came from her 18th place at the Asia Cup in Hong Kong.
She has a very similar profile to Metais and is strong in the swim. On balance, she still needs to find another gear on the run if she is to step up as a medal contender. However, both Metais and Courret are born in 2005 so will likely use Hamburg as a launchpad to the 2024 World Junior Championships.
Japan have an impressive trio of women due to race.
Hinaka Masuda was a bronze medallist at the Japanese Junior Championships back in 2021 and has developed as an athlete over the past two years. Already this year, she has finished 22nd at the Asia Cup in Subic Bay and 17th in the Asia Cup in Osaka.
Right now she is more of a swim-biker and her quality in both disciplines was on display at the Asia Cup events. To make the next step forward, Masuda will need to find a little more speed on the run.
Joining Masuda will be the Hayashis.
The elder of the two, Manami Hayashi, is a star in the making. She won the Japanese Senior Championships in 2022 over both the Olympic and Sprint distances. In addition, she won a silver medal at the Asian Junior Championships last year. To complete a brilliant 2022, she added a bronze medal at the Asia Cup in Ipoh at the tail end of the year.
Hayashi is therefore a part of the select group of athletes with a Senior Continental Cup medal to their name that will be racing in Hamburg.
Nor has she let up this season. She has carried her sterling form into 2023 with a trio of top-8 finishes at Asia Cups. Her best result was a 4th place in Osaka in which she was pipped to another medal, while she finished 6th in Subic Bay and 8th in Hong Kong
Her swim is good while still having room for improvement. Her running, though, is exceptional. It would therefore be no surprise to see Manami Hayashi at the front of the field.
Ayame Hayashi is the younger of the pair by two years, having been born in 2006, but could nevertheless contend for a medal. Last year she finished 6th at the Asian Junior Championships. That was a good result but she has really stepped up a level since.
Her best result of 2023 was her impressive 6th place in Osaka. In Osaka, she showed that her swim and bike have really improved over the past year, while she has not lost any of her speed on the run.
Overall, Manami is the more rounded athlete of the two right now, but Ayame has plenty of speed on the run. If either can keep themselves in contention by the time T2 rolls around in Hamburg, they could claim a medal for Japan.
The remaining three Asian slots were due to be taken by Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and South Korea. However, none of the three countries have submitted their entries for Hamburg, leaving their places up in the air.
Oceania
The Australian trio was originally announced as comprising Rhianna Hepburn, Gabriella Jackson and Emma Olson-Keating, with Alexandra Field as a reserve. However, Jackson, the bronze medallist from the Oceania Junior Championships in Taupo, does not appear on the start list and Field will be racing in her place.
Hepburn will be the favourite to bring home a medal. She won a silver medal in Taupo having been the Oceania Junior champion in 2022. Moreover she won this year’s Australian Junior title in Adelaide and finished 5th at the Oceania Cup in Busselton in which she showed her ability across the board. A strong swimmer and cyclist, Hepburn also has speed to burn on the run.
She maybe lacks the absolute top end speed of some of her closest rivals for the gold but Hepburn should nonetheless be in the thick of the action. No matter how the race unfolds, it would be fair to expect her face popping up towards the front.
To kick off her international season, Emma Olson-Keating finished 5th in Taupo. To go with that, she claimed a bronze medal in Adelaide. Last season, Olson-Keating raced at the World Junior Championships in Montreal but did not finish. The experience, though, should help her with her preparation for Hamburg with the days prior to the race often being key.
Like Hepburn, she has plenty of speed in the first two disciplines, although she does not quite have her teammate’s pace on foot. If Olson-Keating can manufacture a breakaway, though, she could emerge as the best Australian finisher.
Completing the team is Alexandra Field. Having seemingly replaced Jackson, Field brings a superb swim to the table and is the best swimmer of the Australian bunch. She led the way in the water in Adelaide and was the quickest swimmer in Taupo.
At both events, she ultimately fell behind on the run (and finished 6th in Taupo). However, with her speed in the water, she could really unlock the race in Hamburg. It would be no surprise to see Field end up in a select front pack out of T1. If that group could stay clear and build a lead, then Field could come away with a huge result.
From across the Tasman Sea, the Oceania Junior champion, Hannah Prosser, will lead the New Zealand women. She won her title in Taupo on the back of a brilliant run. For context, Prosser ran within 20 seconds of Gwen Jorgensen over the same 5km course. Although Jorgensen was in her first race back as a triathlete, it nonetheless speaks volumes of Prosser’s speed.
Furthermore Prosser will be heading to Boston University in America on a running scholarship. If Hamburg comes down to a running race, then, expect Prosser to be squarely in the mix.
The tricky part is that Taupo remains Prosser’s sole international appearance. Upon reflection, it went pretty well and on that basis she will be a contender for the win in Hamburg. However, in the absence of other data points it is hard to gauge how she will fare. Fortunately, she has a European Junior Cup in Wels, Austria, next weekend to find her form before the big one in Germany.
Sophie Spencer is the more experienced athlete of the New Zealand pair. She narrowly missed out on a medal in Taupo, ending up in 4th place. Last year, though, she won two Oceania Junior Cups which indicate her promise.
This season, Spencer has made the step up to the Senior level. She finished 17th at the Oceania Cup in Devonport and 12th at the Oceania Cup in Wanaka and at both gave a good account of herself against very good fields.
Like Prosser, she will be racing in Wels next weekend having finished 5th at the same race in 2022.
While she might not be able to match her compatriot’s running speed, Spencer is a talented athlete with no real weaknesses. New Zealand therefore have a great chance at bringing home a medal in the women’s race in Hamburg.
