Junior Men

Having won his semifinal on Saturday, Slovakian Nik Vučko replicated his success on Sunday, taking home gold in the Junior Men’s race.

In his semifinal, Vučko posted the fastest run split, as well as the joint-fastest bike and T2 times. German athlete Len Elsenbach matched him on the bike but was unable to keep pace on the run, with Vučko completing the 2.5km course in 08:05.

The final was a thriller, with a large group of athletes heading into the run after the bike section kept them closely bunched together. Vučko left T2 in second place, just behind Hungary’s Dániel Németh, with the rest of the field heading onto the run together.

Vučko was then able to push hard throughout the run, setting up a thrilling photo finish. The Slovakian took the tape just ahead of Great Britain’s William Pridden, who narrowly missed out on the top spot as Vučko once again posted the fastest run split of the day.

Pridden was able to hold off Németh to claim his second medal of the season, following his bronze in Izvorani. Németh finished ahead of Luxembourg’s Emile Vanolst, who crossed the line just three seconds behind the winner.

The nailbiting finish was a highlight of the weekend after two days of tough racing in Zagreb.

Junior Women

There was a similarly dominant performance from France’s Léa Reviglio, who claimed gold on Sunday following a strong showing in Saturday’s semifinal. Reviglio won her semifinal by four seconds ahead of Hungary’s Petra Bán, but knew she would face a tough challenge in the final.

Croatia’s Anja Škunca had crossed the line in 37:40 in her semifinal, finishing 26 seconds ahead of Reviglio but on Sunday the Croatian wasn’t able to replicate her success from the semifinal.

Škunca was one of three athletes in semifinal two to cross the line with exactly the same time, setting up what promised to be a closely fought final.

Reviglio came out of the water in the main group in 15th place and, despite recording the second-slowest T1, quickly made her move on the bike. She hit the front early and was able to maintain her position through to the second transition, leading the group into the run.

It was a performance that suggested the French athlete had managed to save some extra energy from Saturday.

Reviglio was challenged by Korinna Katona, one of the other athletes from Semifinal 2 to finish on the same time as Škunca. Katona produced the fastest run split of the day, but despite closing the gap, she was unable to catch the French athlete, who had built a lead of more than 30 seconds.

Reviglio crossed the line to claim gold by 10 seconds, with Katona taking silver. Ava Guedeu-Lefeuvre completed the podium to secure another medal for France, crossing the line 25 seconds behind her compatriot.

Full results can be found here.