Fanni Szalai produced a masterful performance to win today's World Junior Champs title
This one was not going to be left to chance. It turns out the best way to win a race is to simply not let a single one of your rivals participate in it for even a moment, a thesis Fanni Szalai (HUN) proved in emphatic fashion at today’s World Junior Championships. After winning two silver medals in a row at this level, Szalai made no mistake as she seized control of the race from the opening seconds. This time, she refused to be denied.
“I’m still processing the race and everything,” she said afterwards, her emotion clear. "I wasn’t sure until the end if I could do it. I just remembered how much I wanted this and I’ve worked really hard this year, and I always had this title in my mind. I came here to finish happy and finally I can say I’m happy.”
Upon the sounding of the starter’s horn, Szalai’s strategy had the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face. Her tempo in the opening part of the swim seemed more appropriate for 50m than 750m and in an awesome display of swim power she put 25 seconds into her closest rival. In fairness, it should have come as little surprise from an athlete that has been at the head of WTCS and World Cup swims this year.
From the shellshocked field, a group of four emerged as the primary chase pack. Martyna Gajda (POL) and Linda Krombach (LUX) accompanied German duo Carlotta Bülck and Jara Banka. Even with their numerical advantage, they faced an invidious task catching Szalai.
Anouk Danna (SUI), the European Junior champion, and Anouk Rigaud (FRA) were in the second chase pack out of T1 and soon made it to the quartet ahead alongside Lauren Mitchell (GBR). Danna and Rigaud were among the pre-race favourites to challenge Szalai yet they were powerless against the growing gap.
The chase pack would eventually settle at fifteen-strong, with the deficit stabilising at 40 seconds. By halfway, it was clear this would be a race for silver behind Szalai; no one was going to catch a rider that single-handedly took on a WTCS field on the bike in Hamburg back in July.
That being said, the lead was nibbled down to 26 seconds by T2. None, however, could match Szalai’s speed over the 5km run as, despite her toils, the World Cup winner logged the fastest split of the day.
Behind, Danna consolidated 2nd place. Make no mistake, the rising Swiss junior is a phenomenal prospect. She simply came up against junior triathlon’s version of Godzilla today. Meanwhile, Kimey Casanova (SUI) was locked in a battle with Bülck and Jázmin Kropkó (HUN) for the bronze medal. Then, on the second of the two run laps, Casanova found another gear to make it two Swiss athletes on the podium. An impressive run from Candela Sánchez Touza (ESP) saw the home athlete run through to 4th place while Kropkó held off Bülck for 5th.
Yet this was a day that belonged solely to Szalai. Technically she will still be eligible to defend her title next year, but with this box ticked we will have to see what she targets next. With a World Cup win and WTCS top-10 already under her belt, the sky is the limit. Suddenly, something special at LA 2028 does not seem that far out of reach.
