The Miyazaki World Cup returns as Xinyu Lin hunts a fourth straight win
Aichi-Nagoya. Beijing. Tongyeong. Whenever Xinyu Lin (CHN) has stepped up to an individual start line this autumn, she has come away with the gold medal. Across the Asian Games and two World Cup events, her victories make her the preeminent triathlete from Asia right now and among the most in-form athletes worldwide.
In Miyazaki, at her final race of the season, Lin will attempt to go four-from-four and as the number 1 seed will be the favourite to leave with the gold medal. The sprint distance race of a 750m one-lap swim, 20km five-lap bike and 5km two-lap run should produce few gremlins to knock her from her path. The rest of the field, however, contain more than their fair share of potential troublemakers. Tune in live to TriathlonLive from 10:00 (local time) to catch the start of the women’s race and see whether Lin’s record will emerge intact.
Double act
We should not forget that Lin’s brilliant autumn came off the back of a personal best WTCS finish of 9th in Weihai in August. That would have stood as China’s first ever WTCS top-10 finish, but for one tiny detail. Anqi Huang (CHN) beat her to it.
In the same race, Huang placed 4th in a debut that turned plenty of heads. Huang has since finished 2nd, 4th and 2nd behind Lin in the three events her teammate won, before adding a bronze medal at the Hong Kong World Cup this past weekend. As such, she is in superb form.
Moreover, a 10 second penalty stood between Huang and gold in Tongyeong (she finished only 3 seconds behind Lin), making the difference between her and her teammate even thinner than the record suggests. Indeed, Huang actually leads Lin in the world rankings by a whopping 3 points. Yet Lin has had her number of late, and as one of two World Cup winners in the field alongside Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) this feels like her race to lose.
Spoiler alert
If there is one athlete that could mess everything up for the Chinese team, it is World U23 champion Ilona Hadhoum (FRA). The Frenchwoman has not raced since Pontevedra where she claimed her world title, making her current form a little murky. Furthermore, she placed 10th at her only other World Cup appearance this year, in Chengdu back in May.
And still, Hadhoum was so good in Pontevedra - with a run split that beat everyone except Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) in the WTCS Final - that single result justifies her status as co-favourite with Lin. If she can return to such dizzying heights, Hadhoum can no doubt spoil Chinese plans for a 1-2 finish.
Bringing heat to the party
Elsewhere on the start list, Manami Hayashi (JPN) will look to get one over Lin and Huang after placing 3rd behind them in Aichi-Nagoya. As the home team’s best hope of a medal, the pressure will be on Hayashi to deliver.
The 2025 World U23 champion Richelle Hill (AUS) is another that could vie for a podium while World Cup medallists Erika Ackerlund (USA), Erica Hawley (BER) and Verena Steinhauser (ITA) are all capable of causing an upset. To get past Lin, though, they will likely need to summon their best performances of the year.
