Brits dominate, Gustav Iden shoes confiscated in Abu Dhabi, South African sprints and more – Triathletes

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last weekend now is your weekly commentary on what’s going on in Pro Triathlon, sponsored by Brad Culp. (Editor’s note: If you don’t like the comments, yell at him.)

The World Triathlon Championships series resumes where it left off in Abu Dhabi, while the Ironman race resumes in New Zealand and South Africa. Professional triathlon is alive and well around the globe, so let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend.

British rule Abu Dhabi, Norway kicks football confiscated

Alex Yee embodies all that is great about Britain and it sickens me. He was too refined; too handsome, and too fast. At his pace, not even Kristian Blummenfelt’s return to short-track racing can stop Yi from reaching the podium in Paris next summer. There are 512 days until the men’s Olympic triathlon, but now Yee looks to be the biggest favorite we’ve seen since Alistair Brownlee in 2012.

related: Brownlees abdicate, Alex Yee is the new heir to the British Three Thrones

I try not to take too much away from the March sprint, but the ease with which Yee won the race on Friday cannot be overlooked. He’s doing the Brownlee thing, he basically ends the game early on a run. It’s important to note that he missed some of the biggest races last week: Blumenfelder pulled out due to illness; Tokyo bronze medalist Hayden Wilde suffered a flat tire, Morgan Pearson ) — the fastest Olympic distance runner in Abu Dhabi last November — also pulled out due to illness at the last minute.

When it comes to Olympic distances, we really need to be cool with all the sprinting. At the highest level, triathlon needs to be a true endurance sport – on par with a marathon. The relay race is meant to grow the sport and reach new audiences. Sprinting brings down one of the true endurance events in the Olympic sport. Let’s stop trying to make it a half marathon.

Apologies for off topic.Besides Yi, the story of the men’s game is that of the 23-year-old Vasco Biraca He continued his meteoric rise in the sport and was a serious contender to win Portugal’s second Olympic triathlon medal. He also made me wonder why I didn’t name my son Vasco. He is now in the top seven of five of his last six WTS fights.

On the podium was Manoel Messias from Brazil, a Portuguese name you may not know but should. He is the No. 1 South American in the world triathlon rankings, his second WTS podium finish after finishing third in Cagliari last October. The 26-year-old has been playing at an elite level since he was 17 and has been one of the best in the world every step of the way. He won the Junior World Championships in 2015 and was runner-up at the U-23 World Championships the following year, despite being only 20 years old.

If Yee’s perfect running form and personality weren’t enough to ruin your weekend, beth potter Perfectly won her first WTS title. It was a nice bounce back from a disappointing 32nd finish in Abu Dhabi last season, making her one of the front-runners to accomplish the impossible and qualify for the British Women’s Olympic Triathlon Team. It’s crazy to think that a true gold medal contender could be left out of that team. This doesn’t happen in many other sports.

Since switching from professional running, the Scottish native has excelled in both sprints and Olympic distances, but her 5K times have been particularly hot.she ran away Indie 5K Fast to 14:41, if the event is certified by World Athletics, it will be a world record. Her Friday 5K time of 16:46 was enough to leave behind country girl Sophie Caldwell and American Tyler Spivey, who were the best of the rest of the six-man group.

Coldwell overcame a 10-second penalty for jumping too eagerly into the water to earn her fourth WTS podium. She has yet to win at this level, but has been very consistent and looks like one of the favorites for Team GB 2024.

Spivey had the honor of being the fastest triathlete in the world, not at the Tokyo Olympics, but it inspired her to get faster and earn a fortune in the Super League. Like Coldwell, she’s never won a WTS, but she’s been the most consistent athlete in the world lately. She has competed in ten World Triathlons over the past two seasons and has never finished outside the top eight. She finished in the top five in six of those ten starts. That’s really hard to do in a race where there’s usually only a few seconds left. The U.S. women’s team at the Paris Olympics looks as competitive as the British women’s team, especially with a former gold medalist returning, but Spivey is now in the lead.

A note on Iden’s shoes (yes, we’re talking about Iden’s shoes again)

Because it wouldn’t be a triathlon without some gear controversy and behind-the-scenes smearing, World Triathlon confirmed to our European correspondent, Tim Hemming, defending triathlon world champion Gustav Iden faced equipment protests over a pair of shoes he wore during a race. The shoes have been sent away for testing and Iden’s fate in Abu Dhabi, where he finished a distant 52nd, will remain “provisional” for the next two to three weeks, according to World Triathlon status until a ruling is made.

This isn’t the first time the Norwegian has stirred up footwear controversy as he Won the Ironman World Championships with a pair of On prototype running shoes, which the World Triathlon later deems “not illegal”. However, currently, World Triathlon Rules Says athletes can’t wear “development” shoes that aren’t on the pre-approved list and need approval to get a custom pair.

related: Olympic snub fuels Taylor Spivey’s Paris goals

More domination and more controversy in South African triathlon

As usual, the weather in Ironman, South Africa was a bit erratic, so organizers cut the swim down to 1K, as they usually do. At this point, they might as well officially call it 1K swimming, which could be the triathlon of triathletes.

I know some of the people out there staring at their computers and saying, “But Brad, you’re not there!” I know.And I can’t watch either because Triathlon decided not to give this race live report treatment, even though it was one of their regional championships. Ironman didn’t even tweet while the game was going on. The sport needs to get more professional at the professional level and, as things stand, Ironman would be happy to let someone else do it for them.

That didn’t change the outcome of the women’s race, aside from the lack of coverage and short distance swimming, with Germany’s Laura Philippe showing once again that she is one of the best cyclists in the sport. She has now won seven of her last 10 races and 15 of her last 20 for a perfect 2018 season.

related: How Laura Philipp Set a New Triathlon Record

Shortened swim doesn’t give Britain’s Fenella Langerich However, the chances are great. Her small gap out of the water quickly disappeared from T1, but she did manage to stay within seven minutes of Philip in very tough conditions on the bike, which was no small feat.

Philippe ran four more minutes to reach the line with 11 minutes left on Langridge, with France’s Justine Mathieux not far behind him less than a minute later.she is one of them The Best Athletes to Watch in 2023, but you won’t find Matthew third in the results of this race. Shortly after finishing, she was told she had not passed the penalty for the bike and had not parked in the penalty box. This is the first time Mathieu — or anyone other than the referee, it seems — has known about the penalty, the latest in a string of controversies involving referees in triathlon competitions (see also: Sam Long and Magnus Dilev).

She just ran the best marathon of her life for the greatest finish of her young career – a finish that would have qualified for Kona and sent her flying PTO ranking And earned her $9,000. She was then told that all she had done was for nothing. It’s crazy to have an athlete run 26.2 miles and then tell them they were disqualified for not stopping. Given this, I think it would be fairer to adjust her score than DQ – if there really was no communication between Mathieu and the referee. DQ placed Aussie Penny Slater in third.

With Alistair Brownlee out of the starting lineup with a hip injury, the big question in the men’s game is ‘Can anyone beat France’s Leon Chevalier?’ Most important answer It is “absolutely not”. Chevalier and Kristian Blummenfelt were the only athletes to finish in the top seven at both St. Georges and Kona last year, and now the Frenchman has won his second 140.6 title in a very young career. Like Philipp, Chevalier did most of his damage on the bike, keeping pace with the Aussie Cam Wurf. They all rode in 4:10 in windy and wet conditions, 5 minutes behind the rest of the race.

Chevalier quickly beat Wurf and had a more than 4-minute lead over runner-up Bradley Weiss. Weiss should be firmly in the top 30 for his efforts PTO world ranking, which would put him in three big-money Opens. Denmark’s Mathias Petersen took the final podium ahead of Sweden’s Rasmus Svenningsson. All top four now qualify for the world championship in Nice. Woolf is one position away from qualifying, and if he wants to race at Nice, he must now incorporate another triathlete into his cycling schedule, which seems to suit him better than Kona.

related: Cam Wurf on the challenges of going from road to Tri to gravel

Taupo’s Visser and Phillips top the list

Els Visser of the Netherlands won her second career triathlon title at one of triathlon’s most famous venues. She overcame a 7-minute swim gap 7 minutes faster than the others, then immediately ran out of T2 to win by 3 minutes. Taupo is a great place to run 26 miles unaccompanied.

New Zealander Hannah Berry won the race in 2021, finishing second, with fellow local Rebecca Clarke third.Clark doesn’t get enough credit for being one of two triathletes in the world who can swim with him Lucy Charles-Barclay.

The story of the men’s game is that someone beat braden curryThat man was fellow New Zealander Mike Phillips, who won his second IMNZ title on Saturday. He did this by posting a 4:15 bike split, which was ridiculously fast on rolling gravel-sealed roads. That gave him three minutes on Currie in T2, and he held the advantage throughout the game.

The story of the marathon was Switzerland’s Jan Van Berkel, who finished third with a time of 2:41 – a six-minute lead and the best time of the day. The soon-to-be 37-year-old continued to run faster on two legs, clocking a fastest time of 2:37 on the bike.he completed four minutes Sebastian Keenlerhe has now wrapped up the New Zealand portion of his retirement tour.

related: 2023 (Must-See) Pro Triathlon Calendar