On the opening day of racing at the Wollongong World Championships, Richelle Hill (AUS) sent the home crowd into the stratosphere with a surge to gold so late it came not at the death, but rather from the afterlife. Wollongong might have just about stopped shaking, but the goosebumps will take some time yet to settle after a closing 5km of the run that saw three major lead changes and all sense of order fly out the window.
“I went through doubt, I went through confidence, I went through the crowd, I went through every experience possible on that run,” said Hill. “All I was thinking was, will my legs get me to that finish line, because they were slowly giving way on me, but I’m really proud of that.”
In an incredibly choppy sea swim, the race opened with Márta Kropkó (HUN), ranked number 1, leading the field into T1. She was a distinctive presence at the front in a sleeveless wetsuit – not her first unique equipment choice of the race, as we will see later – as she set out in pursuit of a big result after her brother struck silver in the men’s U23 race earlier in the day.
Britney Brown (USA) was right beside Kropkó in the water but it would be a trio of Kropkó, Sophia Howell (CAN) and Aviv Howell (ISR) that would jump out into an initial lead on the bike. A large, disorganised pack followed. The gap stood at 13 seconds at the end of the first of the seven bike laps with Franka Rust (GER), fresh off her recent medal at the Rome World Cup, heading up the chase.
Rust brought the leaders back into the fold and the lead group settled into a pack of twenty-five. From there, a somewhat sleepy feel descended over the race as the tempo dropped. It was only a late attack by Hill that reenergised proceedings. Thereafter, however, the race swung violently into the opposite direction with every second brimming with drama.
Rust screeched into T2, hitting the brakes so hard and so late it looked as if she would catapult herself onto the blue carpet. Her skills were perfect, though, and she led onto the run with Ilona Hadhoum (FRA). Meanwhile, Kropkó took an extra couple of seconds to make the unusual choice of putting on socks ahead of the run.
It was Hill that moved into the lead on the first run lap. A small pack hovered behind her, but then, in a move few saw coming, Heidi Juránková (CZE) pinged off the front. Kropkó worked her way up to the lead group, joining Hill, Rust, Hadhoum, Naomi Ruff (USA), Tara Sosinski (AUS), Angelica Prestia (ITA) and the late-arriving Maria Casals Mojica (ESP). However, Juránková seemed to be away and clear, especially when her advantage hit 8 seconds.
Gradually, however, the Czech athlete’s grimace grew wider and wider. Scenting blood, Presita attacked on the penultimate lap. Only Kropko could follow the Italian. Juránková glanced over her shoulder and suddenly a motoring Prestia was in her face, causing the Czech athlete to wobble. As Prestia assumed the lead, Kropkó also passed Juránková who briefly stopped.
Kropkó and Casals took up chase on Prestia as, further back, a flying Manami Hayashi (JPN) was making up ground on what had been the main chase group at a rate of knots. No one on the course was moving as fast as the Japanese athlete, but she had left herself with an awful lot of work to do.
With the arrival of the last lap, Kropkó and Hill separated themselves on the uphill section, although Casals and Hayashi did not appear out of the running. And then, just as a wobble from Juránková had presaged Prestia’s ascendancy, the Italian athlete betrayed signs that she had made her move too early. Between winces and gritted teeth, she battled onwards.
Kropkó briefly dropped Hill in the final kilometre. A medal, like her brother, seemed assured. But what colour was it to be?
At the same time, Prestia could see the blue carpet. And then Hill found a second, third, fourth and fifth wind all at once. Past Kropkó she went, drawing mere seconds behind Prestia. Prestia hit the blue carpet first, but could not find another gear. Hill had virtually nothing left either, save for the tiny drop of speed that took her past Prestia. Carried by the thunder of the bellowing crowd, Hill scrambled over the line to snatch gold in the most odds-defying finish of the year.
Denied gold, Prestia settled for silver, improving on the bronze she won at the 2023 championship. “I tried to give all I had, she said afterwards, “and I’m so happy to be back on this podium after two years, two hard years.”
An overwhelmed Kropkó was next home, seconds later. “I simply don’t have any words. I’m so happy!” she said. Of the swim, she added, “I wanted to be like my brother: if he was going to lead out the swim, I was going to!” As it turned out, by the finish she had matched his podium too.
Hayashi was the next woman to cross the line, her jet-propelled finish having come a tad too late. Casals then followed with Juránková completing the top-6 after a brutal last lap of the run. Plenty can, and will, be written of this race, but the final word should belong here to Hill, just as it did on the course. As she succinctly put it in her post-race interview, “Holy moly!”
