It may be the start of November, but it’s not yet time for Mariah Carey and the inevitable, all-conquering return of All I Want For Christmas. Instead, in the triathlon world at least, this past weekend was the start of the final drive to the end of the season through the first World Cup of the South American triple header. With the pursuit of Asian titles and several WTCS stars continuing their Wollongong form, there was plenty to catch.
Aqaba Asia U23 and Junior Championships
In Jordan, the women’s U23 gold went to Gayeon Park (KOR) after a thrilling back-and-forth contest. Park had been the second athlete out of the water, 1 second behind the leader after the 750m swim, and a pack of eight formed out of T1. The bike, however, would soon become a battle between Park and Tallulah Wright (HKG).
Wright was the best rider on the day, streaking clear with a 20km split of 33:34. Park was the next quickest with a time of 34:09, which put her almost 50 seconds clear of her closest chasers heading into T1. With Wright up the road, though, Park had plenty of work still to do. In the end, a joint-best run split of 18:27 was enough to see Park past Wright. The Hong Kong athlete toughed out the final kilometres to take silver while Ikumi Seto (JPN) was the best runner of the chasers, matching Park’s split, to vault herself into 3rd place.
Meanwhile, the men’s race was a three-way battle almost from the off. Takuto Oshima (JPN) led out the swim in 9:18 with Yegor Krupyakov (KAZ) and Kazushi Jozuka (JPN) 5 and 12 seconds in arrears, respectively. That trio would join forces on the bike and open up a 60 second gap to the next pack on the road, all but ending everyone else’s hopes of coming away with a medal.
Oshima had the best T2, but it was Jozuka that flew past on the run. His 15:31 5km topped the splits and carried him to gold by 35 seconds. Oshima had enough in the tank to take silver while Krupyakov’s exertions were rewarded with the bronze medal.
Over in the junior women’s race, Ayame Hayashi (JPN) took a gun-to-tape victory after leading for practically every second. Hayashi was the joint-first out of the water and the first woman onto the bike. Three other women stuck with the Japanese athlete over the following 20km. But when Hayashi left T2 in the lead and gained seconds with seemingly every stride, her gold was never in doubt. Taking silver 44 seconds behind Hayashi was Kanade Sugiura (JPN) while Diana Yerzhanova (KAZ) rounded out the podium.
Completing a Japanese sweep of the golds, Daiki Nishizaki (JPN) won the junior men’s event ahead of Konosuke Uchida (JPN) and Nok Hei Wong (HKG). This was a battle that combined several aspects of the other races into one as Nishizaki managed to make a four-man breakaway on the bike before coming under immense pressure on the run.
Going into T2, Nishizaki led eventual silver medallist Uchida by over 45 seconds but the latter dropped a 16:24 run split, the best of the day, to eat into the gap. There would be no comeback this time, though, as Nishizaki held off his teammate to win by 14 seconds. For his part, Wong also ran through from the chase pack, passing the other three breakaway riders, to earn the bronze medal. View the full results here.
Vina del Mar Americas Cup
The racing in Chile started with the Americas Cup, a perfect appetizer for an action-packed Sunday. The men’s race saw a furious sprint for the line between home hopeful Andres Gras (CHI) and the swim leader Carter Stuhlmacher (USA). Both tore down the blue carpet and it was impossible to pick out the winner. That was until Gras found a final extra percent to win in a photo finish. Bronze went to Blake Bullard (USA), adding another Americas Cup medal after his recent win in Iquique.
The breakaway Stuhlmacher had hoped to engineer in the men’s race materialised in the women’s event as Rafaela Capó (CHI) and Aviv Levi (ISR) constructed a lead of over a minute thanks to field-leading swim and bike performances. Capó would ultimately not finish on the run, leaving Levi alone to hold off the chasers. Maria López Faraudo (MEX) was the fastest of the runners in the pack behind but her 17:17 split was not enough as Levi won by 45 seconds. Domina Elena Jacome Espinoza (CHI) completed the podium in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Vina del Mar World Cup
Then came the main course. A breakaway set up a first World Cup for Jeanne Lehair (LUX), her gold coming a little over five months after her maiden WTCS victory. Rosa Elena Martinez Melchor (VEN) had led the way through the challenging waves, laying the foundation for a front pack of eight to form. Lehair was in this group, although she was unsure of her form after a long season and a recent extensive journey back from WTCS Wollongong. Once onto the run, however, any question mark over Lehair’s condition vanished.
Only Sara Guerrero Manso (ESP) was initially able to hold onto the Luxembourgish athlete. Tired though she may have been, Lehair nonetheless ripped a 16:23 run split, the best of the field, to grind down her rival and win by a comfortable 22 seconds. Guerrero would take a second World Cup medal of the season in 2nd place. Then, in the race for bronze, Martinez had an inspired final lap to carry her to 3rd place. This was not only a first World Cup medal for her; it was the first time Venezuela has ever made a podium at this level.
Martinez’s performance also had further great personal significance. She had not only bounced back from having her appendix removed a few weeks ago, but with the prize money earned through her medals in Vina del Mar and at last week’s Americas Cup in Iquique she has made enough to help her mother buy her house in Venezuela, thereby fulfilling the promise she made to her when first setting out on her elite triathlon journey.
The men’s race very nearly mimicked the women’s Americas Cup as a dynamic duo of Diego Moya (CHI) and Joao Nuno Batista (POR) cruised into the lead, putting 12 seconds into the next man out. The double trouble at the front was soon curtailed, though, as they were swallowed up into a lead pack of fourteen. With attacks off the front coming at regular intervals, the bike never quite settled. Yet it was not until Sergio Baxter Cabrera (ESP) nipped away late on that anyone gained any real time. At the same time, as Baxter carried a small lead into T2, the chase pack had almost closed on the lead group.
With a running race on the cards, this seemed to play into hands of recent WTCS Wollongong silver medallist, David Cantero del Campo (ESP). Having put himself in the initial lead group, Cantero duly shot into the early lead. However Batista clung to him like a limpet. After urging Batista to share in pace-setting duties (the Portuguese athlete respectfully declined), Cantero tried to up the pace. However, he could not yet see Manoel Messias (BRA) flying up from the chasers. The 2023 winner in Vina del Mar looked fantastic and, along with Tom Richard (FRA), drew level with Cantero and Batista.
After Batista’s turn setting the pace on the final lap, Cantero’s burst of speed burnt off Richard. But it was Messias’s finishing kick that carried him to another World Cup win, holding off Batista by the skin of his teeth. The Brazilian’s 14:03 5km split was easily the best of the day. Cantero, meanwhile, had to settle for bronze. View the full results here.
World Triathlon Development Cup Limon
Elsewhere in South America, Valeria Arce Núñez (CRC) powered to a home win in Limon with a last-gasp attack. In a fractured field, a small front pack separated themselves from the rest of the field. When it came to the crunch on the run, though, three women pulled clear. Running alongside Arce was early leader Renata Valentina Oña Paredes (ECU) and Manuela Ortega Arteaga (ECU). A tactical 5km followed until Arce summoned a late surge that vaulted her 3 seconds ahead of the Ecuadorian pair. For their park, Oña and Ortega could only be split in a photo finish, with Oña claiming the silver medal.
An even tighter finish was in store in the men’s race. Alain Brian Fernández Pérez (CUB) and Samuel Zuluaga Cardona (COL) hurtled towards the line together after the former had already closed the best part of half a minute across T2 and the 5km run after the latter managed to ride his way up to the seven-man lead pack. The two youngsters threw everything at one another, but it was Fernández that managed to edge into 1st place, 2 seconds ahead of Zuluaga. Gustavo Alejandro Cano Pérez (COL) then completed the podium. View the full results here.
Around the world
Among the other headlines in the triathlon sphere were newly-crowned world champion Matt Hauser (AUS) adding another gold medal at the Noosa triathlon and Leonie Periault (FRA), the 2nd place overall finisher in the women’s WTCS, playing her part in the team that broke the French club marathon record. With Periault on the anchor leg, the team compiled a time of 2:22:30.
