When we get to the end of the year and consider what weekend of triathlon was the best of the season, it will be hard to look past the one just gone. Take the headline event in Japan for starters. The Yokohama WTCS and World Para Series stops regaled us with thrilling races across the board and a smorgasbord of jaw dropping athletic feats.
From Matt Hauser and Brayden Mercer’s double-punch in the water, to Grace Norman’s electrifying bike split, to Alex Yee’s silky running, and to Tilda Månsson’s dead-eyed sprint finish, there was plenty to marvel. And then we have the action beyond Yokohama to factor in too. Find out all the details you might have missed from a spectacular weekend below in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Americas Cup Ixtapa
In Mexico, the men’s race saw a stand-off on the run between World Cup medallist and Team World Triathlon member Alejandro Rodriguez Diez (CUB) and the young American Porter Middaugh. Both had emerged from the 750m swim safely nestled in the main pack and navigated the 20km bike without issue. On the run, once they had dropped bronze medallist Osvaldo Darell Zuñiga Fierro (MEX), they turned their attention to one another.
The more experienced Rodriguez had used some smart positioning at the end of the bike and a superior T2 to gain precious seconds over Middaugh. But the American never let the Cuban escape his sights. Middaugh would go on to clock the best 5km split of the day (14:34) as he threw everything at Rodriguez, but it was ultimately not enough as Rodriguez held him off in a tense finale to win by 3 seconds.
In the women’s race, Sidney Clement (CAN) led Naomi Ruff (USA) out of the water. Their efforts helped to establish the initial front pack that would eventually number 19 in a field of over 60 women. Among this lead group was Giovanna Lacerda (BRA), a recent Americas Cup winner in Santa Fe, and the experienced Cecilia Perez (MEX). Joy Gill (USA), a relative newcomer on the international scene albeit already an Americas Cup winner too, was another to feature at the front.
Gill was the first woman into T2 and then took charge on the run alongside Lacerda, Ruff and Perez. Over the two laps, Perez was the first to crack. Gill, though, did not put a foot wrong as she gradually turned the screw. A slender lead over Lacerda became a 10 second advantage, one she would not surrender, with Ruff even further back, and that is how the race finished.
With this second international victory under her belt, Gill now turns her attention to her World Cup debut in Huatulco next month. She will cross paths with Lacerda and Ruff again, both of whom will look to turn their silver and bronze medals here into World Cup hardware. View the full results here.
Asia Cup Tam Chuc
A superb all-round performance from Benedikt Bettin (GER) saw him take the win in Vietnam. Having notched a victory at the Swakopmund Africa Cup earlier in the year, Bettin came into this event in decent form. He duly used an aggressive swim by Mitsuho Mochizuki (JPN) as a launchpad to drive a streamlined main pack at the front of the field. The second-fastest run split of the day was then enough for Bettin to secure the win by 10 seconds.
Oscar Wootton (AUS) posed the sternest challenge to Bettin, the young Australian ending the day in 2nd place and coming away with a maiden senior international medal for his efforts. David Lang (LUX) then overcame compatriot Lucas Cambresy to take the bronze medal. Lang also had the best run split of the day in 15:45, 10 seconds faster than Bettin.
Meanwhile, Ayame Hayashi (JPN) was superlative in the women’s race. Her teammate Saki Yanagihara (JPN) had taken control of proceedings in the water before Jamie Harker (CAN) and Margot Garabedian (CAM) assumed the lead through transition and onto the bike. Hayashi was part of the initial group that caught the early leaders, with the likes of Briana Mow (AUS) further swelling the front group’s ranks.
A 17:55 5km run, the best of the day by 43 seconds, ultimately handed Hayashi a comfortable win. It was a successful weekend for the family, as her sister Manami logged a personal best WTCS finish in Yokohama (21st) and in doing so has almost certainly made the Japanese Asian Games team. Mow took silver in Tam Chuc to build upon the medal she won at the Gold Coast Oceania Cup, while Hollie Elliott (IRL) beat Garabedian to the bronze. View the full results here.
World Triathlon Regional Development Cup Amatique Bay
Bautista Arbizu (ARG) dominated the men’s race in Amatique Bay, defeating Jorge Raul Cabinal Gramajo (GUA) by 42 seconds. Although Arbizu did not have the best split in any of the three disciplines, he was never outside the top-4, and his constant presence at the front sustained a pressure his rivals could not withstand.
Elsewhere, there was plenty of success for the Cuban team. Marcos Alejandro Fernández González (CUB) built on Rodriguez’s Ixtapa success with a bronze medal of his own. In addition, over in the women’s event Isabel Rodriguez Silverio (CUB) came out on top thanks to an opening half of her race that overwhelmed the field.
Rodriguez had the best swim, T1 and bike of the field, establishing an insurmountable lead by the time she made it to T2. Mayda Del Milagro Hernandez (GUA) put up a good fight, out-splitting Rodriguez by 46 seconds on the run. She nonetheless lost by 1:45 as she finished 2nd. Bivian Andrea Luisita Diaz Fuentes (GUA) then rounded out the podium. View the full results here.
WTCS Yokohama
And so to Yokohama. Matt Hauser (AUS) was in fantastic nick, emerging as one of the top swimmers before marshalling a six-man breakaway that killed the medal hopes of the chasing pack, including those of a flying Alex Yee (GBR). A masterful run then saw him contain and dispatch silver medallist Miguel Hidalgo (BRA), one of his biggest rivals for this year’s world title.
Hauser was joined on the podium by Luke Willian (AUS), as was the case two years ago in Yokohama. Having already won the Oceania title and the Chengdu World Cup, Willian’s result continued a perfect run of podiums in 2026. It was not all smooth sailing for him on the run, though, as he yo-yoed between the lead pair and the looming clutches of 4th place finisher Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (NOR) before holding on to his bronze medal.
The shock of the weekend was unquestionably found in the women’s race, as Tilda Månsson (SWE) became the youngest female WTCS winner in almost eight years. The 22-year-old ran in lockstep for most of the 10km with Beth Potter (GBR) and Jeanne Lehair (LUX) after a massive pack had arrived in T2 together.
The experienced Potter, winner of the season opener in Samarkand, seemed set to take down Månsson just as she had Leonie Periault (FRA) in Uzbekistan. Yet the former world champion had no answer to Månsson’s sprint finish. Leaving Yokohama, then, Potter is left well-placed to regain the world title this season, but perhaps the biggest question is what will Månsson do next? View the full results here.
World Para Series Yokohama
In many ways, we are saving the best till last here for the racing at the second World Para Series stop of the year was nothing short of sublime.
Men’s winners
- PTWC: Thomas Fruehwirth (AUT)
- PTS2: Mark Barr (USA)
- PTS3: Henry Urand (GBR)
- PTS4: Alexis Hanquinquant (FRA)
- PTS5: Bence Mocsari (HUN)
- PTVI: Lazar Filipovic (SRB)
As expected, there were victories for world champions Fruehwirth, Urand and, naturally, Hanquinquant, all of whom maintained the exceptional levels they have shown over the past twelve months (and much longer in the Frenchman’s case). What was perhaps less expected, was everything else that happened in the men’s events.
Filipovic took down two continental champions on his way to gold in the PTVI class, and he did so by the skin of his teeth. Only 20 seconds separated him from a fast-finishing Sam Harding (AUS), the field’s top runner, in one of the tensest finishes of the day.
Similarly, Barr beat 2024 world champion and last year’s PTS2 Yokohama winner Wim De Paepe (BEL) after an almighty battle. Barr took the early lead in the water but De Paepe got back on level terms on the bike. The Belgian subsequently nudged ahead through T2. Barr, though, was not done and following another 5km run battle prevailed by 21 seconds.
Finally, there was an upset in the PTS5 class as Mocsari bested last year’s Yokohama gold and silver medallists, Martin Schulz (GER) and Jack Howell (AUS). Mocsari, Howell and Filipe Marques (POR) got the jump on Tokyo Paralympic champion in the swim, gaining 50 seconds. The German, however, came roaring back on the bike to snatch the lead away.
Marques was the first to crack on the 5km run and it looked like a repeat Howell-Schulz showdown was on the cards. But Mocsari had other ideas, his 16:34 5km split seeing him to a 6 second win over Howell in the closest finish of the Para triathlon races.
Women’s winners
- PTWC: Lauren Parker (AUS)
- PTS2: Hailey Danz (USA)
- PTS3: Anna Plotnikova (AIN)
- PTS4: Camille Seneclauze (FRA)
- PTS5: Grace Norman (USA)
- PTVI: McClain Hermes (USA)
The women’s events followed a similar pattern with several races playing out as anticipated. Parker was at her authoritative best in the PTWC class, although one minor surprise was Emilia Perry (USA) getting the better of teammate and 2024 world champion Kendall Gretsch (USA) to take silver.
World champions Norman and Seneclauze were likewise a cut above in the PTS5 and PTS4 classes, respectively, while Plotnikova was too good in the PTS3 event.
At the same time, there were two victories that, while not upsets as such, certainly turned heads. One came in the PTS2 class as Danz ended Anu Francis’ (AUS) unbeaten run with a towering all-round performance. Francis was slightly quicker on the bike, but otherwise Danz was the top athlete in the class across the board, serving a reminder of her enduring class.
The second arm-wrestle came in the PTVI class as Hermes recorded a first ever victory on the World Para Series circuit, beating out Maggie Sandles (AUS). Sandles came into this event having already won the Series opener in Devonport as well as the Oceania title. A field-best swim time also got her off to the perfect start. However, Hermes, winner of the Samarkand World Para Cup, rallied on the bike before getting the job done on the run. View the full results here.