Lisa Tertsch defied the odds, the brutal conditions and virtually gravity itself as she powered not simply to the gold medal at the Wollongong WTCS Final, but to the world title itself. The year started with Tertsch winning the season opener in Abu Dhabi, and it was at the other end of the campaign and on the other side of the world that she produced her masterpiece.

Ranked 4^th going into the race, even making the overall podium required a serious comeback. Yet Tertsch held nothing back, and, having been locked in an arm-wrestle with the previous two world champions and two Series leaders all day, came through in a jaw-dropping finish that will live long in the memory.

“I’m quite overwhelmed to be honest,” said Tertsch. “I just focused on what I could do every day (in the build-up), and I was playing around with the points to see what everyone needed, but I never expected it to play out like that. It still feels surreal.”

There are invisible tipping points in all walks of life, moments in which a cause becomes too far gone or in which the impossible is suddenly transformed into something new. When Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) flew out of the traps in the beach start at the women’s WTCS Final, the tipping point that would see the joint-Series leader succumb to Tertsch barely flickered in the imagination. Beaugrand torpedoed through the first part of the swim, dragging along a trail of athletes desperate to cling to her feet. It was clear there would be no repeat of the misadventure in the water that had threatened to cost her at last year’s WTCS Final.

By the end of the first of the two swim laps, debutant Tilly Anema (GBR) had taken over the lead. Beaugrand was right with her, as was Tertsch. The three women would exit the second lap in the same order. Bianca Seregni (ITA) was also with the leaders throughout, while Emma Lombardi (FRA) moved up on the second swim lap to join them.

Entering T1, Beth Potter (GBR), the other co-Series leader and winner of the past two Series stops, was 8 seconds down and on the cusp of missing the group. When Tertsch hammered the first kilometres of the bike, the 2023 world champion seemed in trouble. Luckily, Potter had a teammate to hand.

Jess Fullagar (GBR) did sterling work to bring Potter up to the leaders, creating a pack of seven at the head of the race. Leonie Periault (FRA), ranked 5^th overall at the start of the day, led the chase group but was already 31 seconds down at the first check point. Meanwhile, Jeanne Lehair (LUX), ranked 3^rd, was in the next pack on the road.

On the second lap, Anema lost contact with the leaders; the pace was simply too fierce for a novice at this level. Such was the tempo, come the midpoint of the bike, the gap between the lead and chase groups had grown to 78 seconds. Although the Periault and Lehair groups had merged, it was hard to see either coming back for a medal, either with respect to the Final or the overall Series.

Shortly after, Lombardi attacked. She had looked great on two wheels in Karlovy Vary until a crash derailed her. Now she looked to capitalise on her strength.

However, she never quite managed to open up the gap she desired and Fullagar eventually reigned her in. As a result, the leading sextet made it to T2 together with a lead of 59 seconds over the chasers. Crucially, with Potter and the Olympic champion Beaugrand still in the lead group, the tipping point to Tertsch’s triumph remained concealed.

But the first of the moments that would change everything was minutes away.

Lombardi was out first onto the run. Beaugrand, however, seemed off and was last out. The defending champion had none of her usual snap in the changeover, nor her characteristic bounce in her stride.

In blustering, hot conditions, Tertsch reeled Lombardi in during the ascent on the opening lap. Behind, it seemed Periault had discovered a MarioKart Bullet Bill, such was the speed at which she chomped into the deficit to the leaders. She had entertained slim chances of becoming world champion prior to the race, her cause not helped by the composition of the lead group. But she was clearly going to lay everything on the line now. Diana Isakova (AIN) was the only athlete able to keep with the French woman.

And then the moment came. Suddenly, Beaugrand dropped off the front group. What had seemed concerning before now had alarm bells ringing in the French camp and she would start the second lap 11 seconds down. When Periault blew past her compatriot not long after, it became clear Beaugrand was not just losing the race; she was falling from the overall podium entirely.

When the rest of the chase pack passed Beaugrand, it was game over. The champion would ultimately not finish.

Then, Tertsch’s path to victory opened up completely as Potter slipped behind the leaders on the downhill section. Potter fell back as dramatically as Beaugrand while Periault gobbled up the ground between them.

Lombardi and Tertsch maintained their pace, while Seregni hovered behind them. The Italian had won a maiden Series medal in Alghero earlier this year in similar circumstances. Sensing her opportunity, Seregni then pounced, cutting Fullagar loose and then Lombardi too with a vicious turn of pace.

And so it all came down to this. Tertsch seemed briefly rocked by Seregni’s charge; the last of the contenders standing was on the ropes. But defiance is what separates Tertsch from virtually every athlete in the field. Running seemingly fists clenched, as if upper-cutting the air, punching the wind away, she forced herself to stay with Seregni.

Periault was still dangerous and closing in 4^th place. However Potter had fallen outside the top-10, Lehair out of the top-20, Beaugrand out of the race. This was Tertsch’s chance. This was her world title.

The moment weighed heavy, but the tipping point had arrived. And that was when Tertsch took off.

As the German flew to gold in both the Final and Series, Seregni held on for a magnificent silver medal. “Being back on the podium is crazy,” she said afterwards. “The course was so challenging, from the start I was thinking it would be hard but let’s try to finish the season in the best way.”

Lombardi then held off Periault by a handful of seconds, rectifying the reversal in the same position she suffered at her teammate’s hands in the French Riviera. “A draining race, a really tough year,” said Lombardi. “I’m really, really pleased with my performance and to finish the season like this. It didn’t start well, the season, so I’m really proud of myself. I put everything out there. My plan was to be really offensive on the bike - that’s what I did - and see how it goes on the run. So today it’s 3^rd place.”

Periault’s result was enough for 2^nd overall in the Series behind Tertsch, the standout achievement of her career thus far. Fullagar followed in 5^th with Isakova next home in 6^th. Potter’s day would end with her in 16^th, which kept her 3^rd overall in the WTCS.