Less than a week after last year’s World Junior champion, Tilda Månsson, claimed her second World Cup win, the time has come to determine her successor.
In Montreal last season, Månsson’s victory built upon a streak of European success at the World Junior Championships. This year, an early favourite has emerged from the same continent.
Margareta Vrablova of Slovakia has been on a tear in 2023. With European Junior Cup golds in Melilla, Quarteira, Olsztyn and Wels, she has been a veritable winning machine. To go alongside those golds, she claimed the World Junior Aquathlon title while also winning the silver medal in the Senior race.
Furthermore, last year, she became the Slovakian champion at both the Senior and Junior level
Vrablova has no real weakness in her armoury. She can swim with the leading Junior athletes, ride aggressively and then drop fast run splits. Based on her recent record, she may be best-placed to continue Europe’s run of golds.
Five years have passed since a woman from beyond Europe claimed the World Junior title; in 2018, Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez won the race in Australia. In Hamburg, it may fall to Ramirez’s fellow Mexican athlete, Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott, to break the European streak.
Born in 2006, De La Peña is among the youngest women in the field. However, her form indicates that she will be able to rival anyone for the win. She won the North American Junior Championships in Sarasota and followed it up with a win at the Americas Junior Qualification Event in Punta Cana.
On the Senior stage, she has also proven her chops through a 12th place at the World Cup in Viña del Mar.
Like Vrablova, De La Peña is an exceptionally rounded athlete. Her running is an obvious point of strength but she is also deceptively quick in the swim. The race in Hamburg could come down to a sprint finish between the two women.
Another athlete that could break the European gold medal streak is Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza.
The Chilean youngster won the South American Junior Championships earlier in the year. She followed that up with a silver medal in Punta Cana.
Like De La Peña, Jacome also has recent success at the Senior level to her name. In April, she finished 4th at the South American Championships over the Olympic distance; not long after, she added a 6th place at the Americas Cup in Salinas. In both Lima and Salinas, Jacome exhibited her power in the first two disciplines. If a breakaway forms in Hamburg, she could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Jacome is also a quick runner, although after De La Peña got the better of her in Punta Cana, the advantage may lie with the Mexican athlete on that front.
Then there is Manami Hayashi.
The Japanese prodigy recently won the Asian Junior Championships with a commanding display. In addition, she has logged a series of top-8 finishes at Asia Cup races this season, including a 4th place in Osaka, an 8th place in Hong Kong and a 6th place in Subic Bay. Whereas Vrablova has generally stuck with Junior racing, Hayashi has tested herself against Senior athletes.
There is no correct approach on that front, however the experience of racing more established athletes could pay off for Hayashi.
Elsewhere, several countries will field double threats for the podium in Hamburg.
France will have an incredible combination of Manon Laporte and Ilona Hadhoum. Laporte is the French Junior champion and has medals from the European Junior Cups in Quarteira and Caorle. Meanwhile, Hadhoum memorably finished 3rd at the French Grand Prix in Bordeaux
America will have also two outstanding athletes take to the start line in the form of Naomi Ruff and Faith Dasso. Ruff won bronze medals in Sarasota and Punta Cana and may be the likelier of the pair to medal. At the same time, Dasso was the silver medallist at the Americas Junior Championships in both 2021 and 2022 and is a proven quantity in championship racing.
Bethany Cook and Isla Hedley form a potentially dangerous duo from Britain. Moreover the likes of Rhianna Hepburn and Alejandra Seguí Soria arrive in Hamburg after recent wins at the European Junior Cups in Holten and Izvorani, respectively.
Truth be told the winner could come from just about anywhere. With an extraordinary group of athletes gathered in Hamburg, it will likely come down to which woman can seize the moment.
TriStats Predictions
- Margareta Vrablova
- Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott
- Ilona Hadhoum
- Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza
- Manami Hayashi
