It was Matthew Hauser’s weekend as the Australian locked up double gold in Hamburg. First, he subdued a star-studded men’s field on Saturday before returning on Sunday to anchor Team Australia’s relay to a dramatic gold. In doing so he became the third athlete this decade (after Laura Lindemann and Tim Hellwig in 2021) to accomplish the Hamburg double. Beyond the World of Matt, though, there were great showdowns aplenty, not least at the latest World Para Cup in Magog, Canada. Find out all that happened in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
World Para Cup Magog
Men’s winners:
- PTWC: Joshua Landmann (GBR)
- PTS2: Diego Alfonso Lares Garcia (MEX)
- PTS3: Cedric Deuziere (FRA)
- PTS4: Antoine Lamarche Poulain (FRA)
- PTS5: Chris Hammer (USA)
- PTVI: Thibaut Rigaudeau (FRA)
A theme of the men’s races in Magog was duels on the run. One such head-to-head came in the PTWC class as Joshua Landmann prevailed over Paris Paralympian Howie Sanborn (USA) by 46 seconds. A H2 athlete, Landmann started 3:00 behind H1 athlete Sanborn. He managed to make up the gap in the swim before the pair stuck close together on the bike. It was only on the run that Landmann finally escaped the attentions of the World Para Series gold medallist.
The men’s PTS3 race saw an even tighter battle as Cedric Deuziere got the better of Max Gelhaar (GER). Gelhaar led out of the water with his French rival 45 seconds back. Denuziere, however, powered up to Gelhaar during the 20km bike before claiming the gold on the run by 26 seconds. In addition, Antoine Lamarche Poulain beat Finley Jakes (GBR) in a PTS4 run battle while the PTVI gold went to Thibaut Rigaudeau over Maxime Gayet (FRA) after another showdown that was only decided on the 5km run.
Women’s winners:
- PTWC: Lauren Parker (AUS)
- PTS2: Allysa Seely (USA)
- PTS3: Kenia Yesenia Villalobos Vargas (MEX)
- PTS4: Camille Seneclauze (FRA)
- PTS5: Grace Norman (USA)
- PTVI: Anja Renner (GER)
The closest race at the World Para Cup came in the women’s PTS2 class as Allysa Seely beat Asumi Yasuda (JPN) by 4 seconds. Seely, previously a Paralympic champion and world champion, seemed to have the race locked up heading into T2 for there was not a rival in sight. But then Yasuda came flying back on the run.
The Japanese athlete chomped through the gap between her and Seely, making up minutes. In the end she ran out of room, but with another few hundred metres the gold could have been hers. Yasuda has already won World Para Series medals in Yokohama and Devonport this year. She also placed 4th at last year’s world championships and currently looks like a huge threat to the podium in Wollongong in October.
On the note of the World Para Series, the final event of the year is coming up in Montreal. As such, Magog was a perfect hit-out for many of the stars of the sport, with Paralympic champions Lauren Parker and Grace Norman winning in style. View the full results here.
Americas Cup Magog
Meanwhile in Magog, Porter Middaugh (USA) defeated home athlete Liam Donnelly (CAN) by 1 second in the men’s sprint distance Americas Cup. Both had been little way down the field after American Blake Bullard had pushed a ferocious tempo in the swim. By T2, though, the field was mostly back together.
Middaugh and Donnelly went toe-to-toe on the run and it seemed the more experienced Canadian would have enough left in the tank to take the win. No matter what happened, it would have been a first international medal for Middaugh, and he made sure it would be gold with a blistering finish. Taking the bronze medal was another young American, Braxton Legg.
Joy Gill (USA) had recent experience of a 1 second victory margin; she was on the wrong side of one as she took silver at the Americas Cup in Santiago. She ran no risk of a repeat in Magog as she defeated Paris Olympian Erica Hawley (BER) and Naomi Ruff (USA) by 16 seconds.
Like the men’s race, the action really came to life in the 5km run. Gill did not have the best T2 but her field-leading 17:20 split was too good for her rivals. Notably, the medallists were the only women under 18 minutes. Hawley and Ruff actually finished with identical times but the athlete from Bermuda managed to come out on top in the photo finish. View the full results here.
Europe Junior Cup Chisinau
Sebastian Ziekman led a Luxembourgish 1-2 as he finished ahead of teammate Tom Heyart over the super sprint affair. This was Ziekman’s race from the start as he led out of the water, putting 6 seconds into his nearest competitor, and did not look back. A solo break was not on, but Ziekman’s pace kept the lead pack to under ten men. It took a huge turn from Heyart to ride up to the leaders. Later, during the run, the Luxembourgish pair were simply too fast with Italy’s Ludovico Trincheri settling for the bronze.
In what was a particularly young women’s field, one of the youngest athletes racing, Estonia’s Evamaria Albert (born in 2010), emerged victorious. The eventual silver medallist, Italy’s Chiara Guarisco, had led the swim and Albert was actually the fourth woman out of the water, almost 21 seconds in arrears. Alongside Amalia Maria Singuran (ROU), Albert managed to ride up to the lone leader. From there, the trio at the head of the race stayed clear. Albert then deployed the best run of the field to win with Guarisco crossing in 2nd place. Tunde Georgiana Crisan (ROU) ran through to 3rd place after Singuran did not finish. View the full results here.
WTCS Hamburg
And so we come back to the World of Matt. In what was his second WTCS win of the season and second win in a row in Hamburg, Matthew Hauser (AUS) reigned supreme. He appeared in total control of the race throughout and, with two golds and a silver making up his WTCS points total, now possesses a close to unassailable lead already on the road to the Series Final.
Vasco Vilaca (POR) took the silver medal, his fourth in a row in Hamburg. Shortly after, there was a new face on the podium as Alessio Crociani (ITA) earned a maiden Series medal by out-kicking Miguel Hidalgo (BRA).
In the women’s race, Leonie Periault (FRA) stunned Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) over the 5km run. Beaugrand had taken the lead early on and anyone familiar with the triathlon script of the past year knew what was supposed to happen next. However Periault was in inspired form and skilfully took down the Olympic champion. Making the podium once again in Hamburg was Beth Potter (GBR) as she earned the bronze medal. View the full results here.
World Mixed Relay Championships Hamburg
Prior to the race, it was anyone’s game. Olympic champions Germany arrived as the defending gold medallists and had home advantage to play with. Team France could call upon the women’s gold and silver medallists. Team Australia had not been a threat on the relay stage for several years but planned to utilise Hauser on the anchor leg. As the race then slowly unwound, it remained anyone’s game.
There were plenty of eye-catching performances across each leg, but no one really broke through. That was until the end of the third leg when Beaugrand seemed to have slipped free. Only a handful of teams were within striking distance of the French, who were being brought home by 2023 world champion Dorian Coninx. Hauser, however, seemed to be too far removed from the conversation to truly feature. Over the subsequent 17 minutes 53 seconds, the Australian proved any such notion to be entirely wrong.
Come the final run, he was in a three-way fight against Coninx and Henry Graf (GER). Having already won on the streets of Hamburg a day earlier, he was never going to let his chance go begging and, in what truly was Hauser’s weekend, the final winning margin over France was only 3 seconds, with Germany another 4 seconds back. View the full results here.
