Catch up with all the key details from the weekend's events in the Monday Mix
Everywhere you looked at the weekend, there was a sprint finish. No matter whether in Asia, Africa or South America, across a World Cup double-header and one of the most prestigious races going for young athletes the action yielded close call upon close call. Find out all the details you might have missed in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Dakar Youth Olympic Games
In the build-up to the weekend, the triathlon events at the Youth Olympic Games commanded the sport’s attention. Multiple continental champions took to the start line hoping to become the latest winners of a competition that has produced an array of stars. Doing so, however, was as much a test of nerve as it was of physical prowess.
In the men’s race, a tense back-and-forth between the ten-man breakaway and the chase pack defined the 20km bike, but it was the chasers that came out on top as the groups came together before arriving into T2.
From the subsequent 5km running race, European Youth champion Artur Gaspar (POR) found the critical final gear to pull away from Emile Vanolst (LUX) and take the title. As was also the case at the Europe Youth Championships, Vanolst held on for 2nd place, this time 5 seconds behind Gaspar. Meanwhile, there was a tie for bronze between last year’s Asia Junior champion Daiki Nishizaki (JPN) and the reigning Asia Youth champion Ramazan Ainegov (KAZ) as neither men could be separated even in a photo finish in the first of many sprint showdowns.
In the women’s event, Kimey Casanova (SUI), the World Junior Championships bronze medallist, powered to the gold medal after defeating European Junior aquathlon champion Jázmin Kropkó (HUN) on the run. Kropkó and Enge Xu (CHN), the Asian Youth Games champion, led out of the water, with Casanova 14 seconds behind. The Swiss athlete nonetheless managed to put herself in the lead pack of five that rode away from the field.
Xu later crashed on the bike while a chase quintet bridged to the leaders to throw new names into the mix going into the run. As much as Kropkó took the fight to Casanova, though, the Swiss athlete would not be denied and came through to win by 21 seconds. As a result, she became the first European winner of the women’s race at the Youth Olympics. Completing an all-European podium, Evamaria Albert (EST) zoomed to 3rd place in another standout performance. View the full results here.
Hong Kong World Cup
After the close call between Nishizaki and Ainegov in Dakar, it seemed the template for the weekend had been set for both individual races in Hong Kong went down to the wire. A large pack had come together on the bike over the 20km, setting up a shoot-out over 5km between some of the best runners in the sport. Beijing World Cup winner Max Studer (SUI) and World U23 champion Nils Serre Gehri (FRA) were part of this pack, but there was no shortage of contenders for the gold.
World Cup winner Callum McClusky (AUS) appeared to have made the decisive move as the blue carpet neared. However, on the long finishing straight, Serre summoned an almighty push to nip past the Australian at the last second and claim a first World Cup win. McClusky settled for silver while David Castro Fajardo (ESP) held off Studer to make a return to the podium for the first time in almost two years.
The finish was equally tight in the women’s race as Diana Isakova (RUS) and Jeanne Lehair (LUX) ended up with the same time, just as Serre and McClusky. Once again, the race was characterised by a massive pack managing their efforts over the 20km bike, with a few moves off the front coming to nothing.
Isakova had been second out of the water and could afford to let the group form around her. By contrast, World Cup medallist Anqi Huang (CHN) was one of the last women out of the water but had the best bike split of the day to revive her hopes.
In the final stages of the race, Isakova, Lehair, Huang and Valentina Riasova (RUS) pulled away from the rest and it was Isakova, who also won the Rome World Cup a month ago, that managed to lunge over the line first. Finishing 1 second back, Huang then nabbed a second ever World Cup medal.
Several of the medallists were back the next day in the Mixed Team Relay and Studer clearly had a point to prove as he anchored Team Switzerland to a stunning victory. After Anouk Danna, Simon Westermann and Alissa Konig had combined to keep the Swiss team in contention, Studer overhauled the lone leader Xirui Zhang (CHN) and held off Grigory Antipov (RUS) to secure a shock win for his team. The Isakova-led Team Russia came away with the silver, 7 seconds back, while Huang was part of the Chinese quartet that came home in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Iquique World Cup
It was more of the same on Sunday in Chile as the Iquique World Cup produced two further gripping finishes over the sprint distance. Unlike in Hong Kong, however, the bike section in the men’s race saw plenty of upheaval. The swimming speed of Márton Kropkó (HUN) and Benedikt Bettin (GER) had prised open space for a five-man breakaway to ride clear. Morgan Pearson (USA), last week’s winner in San Pedro de la Paz, was in this pack, however David Cantero del Campo (ESP) and Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP), the fastest runner last weekend, were trapped in the chase group.
On a flat course, the greater numbers of the chase told and they caught the leaders. Things were by no means settled, though, as Kropkó and Samuel Künz (AUT) attacked, earning a 20 second lead into T2. Yet their advantage would not last. As the heavy hitters over 5km ramped up the intensity, Cantero and Sullivan Middaugh (USA) carried the contenders past the two bike leaders.
It was touch and go throughout, but when WTCS medallist Cantero attacked with the blue carpet in sight, no one could respond. Middaugh then came flying home at the head of the medal-hunters, but it was not Sullivan. Rather, it was his brother Porter that charged to the silver medal, 3 seconds behind Cantero. Finishing at the same time as Middaugh was Serrat, who once again clocked the fastest run split of the field (14:14) to seize the bronze ahead of Sullivan Middaugh and Pearson.
In contrast to the men’s race in Iquique, the breakaway stuck in the women’s event. This was in no small part down to the presence of Ironman world champion Taylor Knibb (USA) who helped drive the pack alongside last week’s San Pedro de la Paz winner Marta Pintanel Raymundo (ESP) and World Cup gold medallist Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto (COL).
Not content to simply be in the lead pack, Knibb attempted to break away from the breakaway, taking three others with her: Carlotta Missaglia (ITA), Ana Carballo Gómez (ESP) and Liis Kapten (EST). Yet Knibb’s move would not last and the breakaway was soon whole again.
The 5km run then came down to fine margins. After losing precious seconds in T2, Knibb forced her way back into contention with a field-leading run split (16:03). However, she was pipped on the blue carpet by the sensational sprint finish of Velasquez as the two women finished with the same time. A mere 3 seconds back, Pintanel claimed a second medal in as many weeks as she held of a fast-finishing Missaglia. View the full results here.
Iquique Americas Cup
Wrapping up the weekend, Iquique hosted the final Americas Cup race of 2026. Here, at last, we saw a wider margin of victory more akin to Casanova’s triumph in Dakar. And another sprint finish. Obviously.
In the men’s race, World Cup medallist Alejandro Rodriguez Diez (CUB) prevailed over Canada’s Solen Wood by 3 seconds after a tactical battle over the 5km. Rodriguez had the top run split of the day (14:51) but was only 1 second quicker than the Canadian. Both had been part of the large lead pack that had formed after Rodriguez’s fellow Team World Triathlon members Alvaro Campos Solano (CRC) and Gabriel Terán Carvajal (ECU) set the pace in the water. Terán then showed plenty of speed at the other end of the race to see off Andres Gras (CHI) and Campos to take home the bronze medal.
Finally, Yaniuska Mared Jimenez Arriechi (VEN) was on hand to settle the spiked heart rates of the weekend with an unruffled victory in the women’s race. After the field had split in two by the end of the first lap of the bike, with Jimenez safely placed in the front pack, Rafaela Capó (CHI) brought the leaders into T2 first. Although a little down the pack at this point, Jimenez had the best T2 of the field to regain a few places. From there, she popped a field-best 5km run split (17:15) to win by 16 seconds. Paula Jara (ECU) was the best of the rest and earned the silver medal while Gabby Martin (USA) rounded out the podium in 3rd place. View the full results here.
