Catch all the latest in triathlon with your Monday Morning Mix
We are days away from the biggest event on the triathlon calendar with the WTCS Finals and the concomitant festival of racing. The action in Pontevedra, however, will have plenty to live up to if it is even to match the thrilling weekend just gone. Across two major Games, one of the closest T100 showdowns ever, eye-catching solo turns, and the awarding of the latest LA 2028 Olympic slots, there was a bit of everything. Find out all that happened in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Santa Fe South American Games
As the first of two major Continental Games over the weekend, the South American Games set the stage for a Chilean 1-2 in the men’s race. While World Cup medallist Diego Moya (CHI) was the pacesetter in the water (9:23 for 750m) and carried the early lead on the bike, though, he was not one of Chile’s medallists.
Instead, Andree Buc (CHI) was part of a three-man group that seized control of the bike. With Buc’s field-leading 28:51 split over 20km doing no harm at all, he gained over half a minute on the chasers alongside Ramón Armando Matute (ECU) and Yhousman David Perdomo Peña (VEN). From there, an expertly managed 14:53 split was enough to see Buc over the line for the biggest win of his career so far.
Further back, things were not quite so serene. His large lead out of the water erased, Moya was part of the chase pack that balanced pursuing Buc on the run with holding something back in the race for silver. As it was, Mateo Mendoza Burgos (CHI) got the better of his more experienced counterpart and came through to take the silver medal. The day’s fastest runner, Tiago Muñoz (ARG – 14:43 for 5km) was then a few seconds back in 3rd place.
The women’s race likewise asked if the crowd wanted a breakaway, and the answer was a resounding “yes”. Vittoria Lopes (BRA) did what she does and topped the swim in 10:22, creating an initial pack of six athletes at the head of the race. Six became seven as Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza (CHI), the day’s top cyclist (31:53), jumped into the lead group just before it buried the rest of the field.
Former Americas champion Djenyfer Arnold (BRA) was with her compatriot Lopes at the front, while World Cup medallists Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto (COL) and Rosa Elena Martinez Melchior (VEN) were also dialled in. Any sense of competition for the gold soon evaporated on the run, however as Velasquez powered to the win by 30 seconds (her run split of 16:08 was handily the fastest of the day). Arnold then secured the silver medal while Martinez took home the bronze. Both were the only other women to run sub-17 minutes, highlighting Velasquez’s superiority in the final discipline. View the full results here.
Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games
Part two of the Continental Games then took place on the other side of the world in Japan. Here, something just as valuable as regional bragging rights was up for grabs. Two slots to LA 2028. As one of the changes to the Olympic qualification system from previous Games, the men’s and women’s race winners in Aichi-Nagoya would earn a slot each to the Games, making them the third and possibly fourth countries to qualify after hosts America and France, the winners of this year’s World Mixed Team Relay Championships.
Last year’s Asia Championships winner Takumi Hojo (JPN) made no mistake in the men’s race, winning over the sprint distance in textbook fashion. Hojo was only 3 seconds behind swim leaders Sangmin Park (KOR) and Aleksandr Kurishov (UZB) and then drove the lead pack as the field broke in two.
While he came under immense pressure from China’s Xirui Zhang and Kazakhstan’s Arlan Zhanabay on the run, Hojo had home support on his side. He has also been around the block enough times to know how to get the job done and a perfectly paced 14:51 split over 5km saw him to the win from Zhang by 9 seconds. Having not raced at the Olympics before, look for him to try to claim the Olympic spot he has earned for Japan over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Xinyu Lin (CHN) ensured China’s first Olympic triathlon slot for LA 2028 with a fantastic win in the women’s race. Lin took the lead in the swim (9:42) and did not look back. A joint-quickest T1 further cemented her grip on proceedings. Anqi Huang (CHN), fresh off a hugely impressive WTCS debut in Weihai where she placed 4th, was part of a select group able to ride up to Lin’s wheel. Not even the in-form Huang could live with Lin on the run, though.
A 16:36 split saw Lin home to victory by 22 seconds, upgrading the silver medal she won at the 2023 Asian Games. Huang crossed in 2nd place while Japan’s Manami Hayashi completed the podium in 3rd place. View the full results here.
T100 French Riviera
It could not have been much closer at the latest stop of the men’s T100 as Hayden Wilde (NZL), Jelle Geens (BEL) and Kyle Smith (NZL) duked it out in a nail-biting 18km run. The trio emerged near-simultaneously out of the water only a few seconds removed from swim leader Sam Dickinson (GBR). They then hung in a pack of athletes that sat some 20 seconds behind Rico Bogen (GER), the top cyclist of the day.
Bogen’s 20-odd second lead was soon erased on the run as Wilde, Geens and Smith moved to the fore. A rapid 58:09 split from Wilde got the job done, but it did not come easy as Geens pressured him all the way, finishing only 19 seconds behind. In turn, Smith was a further 5 seconds back as he rounded out the podium. Wilde’s win will have his short course rivals taking note as he is set to race at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra this weekend. As the winner of the 2024 Final, he is one of the few men on the start line to have previously tasted glory at the event. View the full results here.
Africa Cup Tipaza
In Algeria, the coming together of the day’s quickest swimmer and speediest cyclist stole the show in the men’s race, resulting in a first ever international win for a newcomer to the scene. In the first discipline, Kyotaro Yoshikawa (JPN) was on song and ripped a 9:10 split for the 750m, putting all bar four athletes over 20 seconds behind. As the bike section gradually took shape, Denmark’s Frederick Bradley emerged as the strongest athlete and bridged the gap to Yoshikawa. Together, they proved to be a bad combination for the rest of the field.
Arriving in T2, the leaders had over half a minute to play with. Yoshikawa would soon suffer on the run and fell back, but Bradley made the most of his advantage. Although the day’s top runner Veikka Saren (FIN) out-split the Dane by 29 seconds over the 5km (15:50 to 16:19), Bradley did enough to hold on to win by 6 seconds. Being his second ever international start, this will no doubt be a major confidence boost. Valentin Van Wersch (NED) then completed the podium in 3rd place.
Another gold for Denmark came in the women’s race as Lærke Ruby (DEN) was on top throughout. Alongside Japan’s Kanae Takenaka, Ruby was the fastest swimmer (11:05). Most of the small field remained intact, though. On the run, Catalina Torres Espinoza (CRC) and Noémi Van der Kaaij (SUI) stepped up as Ruby’s main opponents, but the Dane used a field-best 18:39 run to win by 14 seconds. Torres then pipped Van der Kaaij to the bronze medal by 4 seconds. View the full results here.
Africa Junior Cup Tipaza
In the junior men’s, rising Tunisian prospect Mohamed Amine Khemais made it three Africa Junior Cup golds in a row as he led from gun to tape. Khemais topped the swim rankings over the 750m (10:31), carrying a slight lead over teammate Youssef Slama (TUN). No one else was in sight.
Malik Fodil (ALG) struck out after the two leaders but he had too much work to do after losing time in the water. Instead, Khemais and Slama were left to duel it out, with Khemais only getting the better of his teammate by 2 seconds at the finish line. Fodil was nevertheless rewarded for his solo effort on the bike as he held on to seize the bronze medal.
In an all-Algerian field, Dalia Aidouni prevailed over last week’s Monastir Africa Junior Cup winner Saleha nerddjes Berrached. Berrached was the top swimmer and gained 38 seconds over Aidouni (11:46 to 12:24). Aidouni drew back alongside her teammate on the bike, though, setting up a 5km contest to settle matters. Here, Aidouni shone as she out-ran Berrached by 1:09 to win in style. Asma Belaidi was the next athlete home to take the bronze medal. View the full results here.
Americas Duathlon Championships Merida
In Venezuela, David Guete (COL) powered to the gold medal after crushing the field with a massive bike split. In the 5km run-20km bike-2.5km run format, Guete was the tied-second man into T1 alongside Gregori Abran Ibarra Guerra (COL) after leader Manuel Oswaldo Mitac Escalante (PER). The Peruvian athlete had a 1 second lead thanks to a 15:49 split.
Guete then took off on two wheels, his 39:21 split earning him a lead of over 90 seconds by the time he made it to T2. Ibarra would out-split him on the second him, but only by 6 seconds (his 7:47 was the best split of the field), and over such a short second run there was no way the damage could be undone. Guete therefore won from Ibarra by an eye-catching 1:31. Mitac then kept his cool to hold onto 3rd place after coming under pressure from a third Colombian athlete, Camilo Duarte Escamilla.
Juliana Jaramillo (COL) made it two gold medals for Colombia by winning the elite women’s race and her victory similarly relied upon a phenomenal showing on the bike. Jaramillo also found herself in 2nd place at the end of the 5km run, albeit 51 seconds back as Selene Martinez Avila (MEX) charged into the distance (17:54 split). However, Jaramillo turned the tables on Martinez by outriding her over the 20km by 3 minutes (45:04). When the Colombian added a field-best second run (9:27), it was game over. The gold was hers by 2:18. Martinez took the silver medal while Marianny Giuseppina Antonelli Urriola (VEN) boosted the morale of the home fans with the bronze. View the full results here.
Europe Cup Coimbra
Finally, only one athlete stood in the way of total French domination at the latest stop of the Europe Cup circuit. In the men’s race, Pietro Giovannini (ITA) shot out to a superb start, clocking 9:38 for the 750m swim and dragging a small group of athletes into T2 with a slender gap over the field. He had not, however, fully shaken off some of the threats of a deep French team.
Baptiste Passemard (FRA), a 2023 World Junior Championships medallist, and Achille Besson (FRA), last year’s silver medallist at the Europe Junior Championships, soon slotted onto the leaders’ wheels; Besson had the best T1 of the day. Moreover, World Cup winner Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger (FRA) was making headway. While Giovannini would lead into T2 in a massive pack, this had become a French running race.
A lightning quick 14:49 handed gold to Hueber-Moosbrugger as he found a late gear to defeat Adam Fouchal (FRA). Besson then denied Passemard as the squad locked out the top-4.
And so, by the process of elimination, we come to the race in Coimbra in which a non-French athlete thrived to the point of medalling. After a win at the Americas Cup in Montreal earlier this summer, this was a chance for Annie Fuller (USA) to test herself further afield, and she took the opportunity with aplomb.
A solid swim kept her in touch with early leader Candice Denizot (FRA) before a pack of around fifteen women formed at the front of the bike. World Junior Championships medallist Manon Laporte (FRA) was also in the group and would provide Fuller with the sternest challenge. A speedy T2 from the French woman saw her lead out on the run. The American nonetheless stuck to her task and dropped a 16:43 5km split to close a 9-second gap to Laporte and win by 2 seconds. Denizot then crossed in 3rd place as France put four women in the top-5. View the full results here.
