Normally, when the reigning champion of an event is on the start line for the subsequent edition it is a fairly straightforward task to guess who will win. The one that did last year. Obviously. Which brings us to the women’s World U23 Championships. The defending champion Karolina Helga Horváth (HUN) is back to defend her title in Wollongong and should be the favourite. What that it were so simple. The problem is Horváth has not raced internationally since her triumph in Torremolinos and faces multiple rising stars of the sport.
Over a two-lap 1500m swim, seven-lap 40km bike and five-lap 10km run, the matter will be settled. Maybe backing Horváth to do it again is not just the logical call, but the right one. Or maybe one of her rivals will find a way past her this year. Read on to see who she will be up against and find out what happens live on TriathlonLive on Thursday 16th October at 16:15 (local time; 08:15 CEST).
Horváth may be the defending champion but her teammate Márta Kropkó (HUN) is the woman that will be wearing number 1 in Wollongong. The top seed (just like her brother in the men’s U23 race) has demonstrated a clear upwards trajectory at recent WTCS events. She placed 21st in the French Riviera, then 18th in Karlovy Vary before topping that with a 13th in Weihai. Moreover, she has had a close call to the World Cup podium through her 4th place finish in Karlovy Vary last year. If there’s a breakaway, she will probably be in it, giving her a chance to bring down Horváth.
One of the form women on the start list is undoubtedly Franka Rust (GER). The German athlete is fresh off a 3rd place finish at the Rome World Cup and won the bronze medal at the European Sprint Championships too. To go with that, she finished 13th in Karlovy Vary and could have fought for a spot in the top-20 overall of the WTCS but chose to fight for an U23. The use of fight is appropriate: if you have ever seen a clip of a honey badger taking on an elephant, that is the best metaphor for Rust on the race course. She’s shown this year that she’ll take on anyone, regardless of reputation, and her scraps have often ended up with her on the podium.
Meanwhile, Asia’s best hope for gold comes from an athlete that has threatened to become a big fish in a small pond: Manami Hayashi (JPN). Hayashi has dominated the Asia Cup circuit lately. She is on a seven race winning streak stretching back over a year and has shown an ability to win however she pleases. Now she will test herself against her global U23 peers. A silver medal at this year’s Asia Championships was another positive step, but her talent is too big to remain confined to the continental pond.
The title of the most random season of those on the start list probably goes to Zuzana Michalickova (SVK). The returning silver medallist from last year’s World U23 Championships proved her multisport credentials with golds at the World Winter Triathlon Championships and European Aquathlon Championships. To go with that, she placed 5th at the European Championships over both sprint and standard distances. At the start of the year, Michalickova said she planned to take a more experimental year before getting onto the Olympic qualification treadmill. What better way to sign off 2025 than to get Horváth back for last year’s sprint finish in Torremolinos.
Richelle Hill (AUS) has shone brightest of the home hopefuls and enters as the Oceania champion. The fact she has not raced since winning her continental title in March is a slight concern, but at her best she belongs in the gold medal conversation.
The Americas U23 champion, Maria López Faraudo (MEX), is another to watch. López also won silver in the senior Americas Championships and has recorded a series of blazing run splits across the Americas this year. Few can out-run her, but can she put herself in the front group to make her speed count?
Finally, we come to the 2023 World Junior champion, Ilona Hadhoum (FRA). Where you rank Hadhoum is a question of where you look. On the one hand, you have the Hadhoum of the international scene in 2025, an athlete that has raced sparingly with a best result coming through her 9th place at the Chengdu World Cup.
On the other hand, you have the Hadhoum of the French Grand Prix, an athlete that has repeatedly gone toe-to-toe against one of the best women in this year’s WTCS (Jeanne Lehair) and a former world champion and Olympic medallist (Georgia Taylor-Brown). The former European Junior champion finished 8th in Torremolinos last year over her first ever standard distance race. A year older, a year wiser, and battle-hardened against Lehair and Taylor-Brown, Hadhoum will certainly be gunning for the podium.
The medal count
Should Rust or Hadhoum win, they would lift Germany or France into the outright leadership of the women’s U23 gold medal tally since 2009. Both countries, as well as Great Britain, currently have three wins. The United States and Australia are right behind on two golds. Horváth’s gold medal last year was Hungary’s first and she or Kropkó could double that if they bring home the crown once again.
