Beth Potter’s upward curve continues with World Triathlon Cup win in Haeundae
Beth Potter’s upward curve continues as the Scottish athlete wins the World Triathlon Cup in Haeundae, South Korea. Combining her triathlon and running ability in perfect unison, Potter dominated the women’s race to secure Gold in a time of 56:25 minutes.
This is by no means an overnight success as Potter transition from a former 10,000m Olympian to International Triathlon has been four years in the making.
In 2019, prior to the pandemic, Potter produced a seismic shock in winning the European Championships and continued her spectacular start with World Cup gold in Valencia and the silver medal in Arzachena in 2020.
Today’s 2021 World Cup Gold win Haeundae has set up an intriguing pathway for Potter with an eye already on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 and Paris Olympics 2024.
Beth Potter talks about her intriguing triathlon pathway to TriNation’s Podcast Crew.
A mix of Olympic experience, World Triathlon favourites and, fresh talent to the international stage, lined-up on the iconic Haeundae Beach beach to race for World Cup glory and valuable ranking points.
Aside from Potter, notable contenders for the win were Hungary’s Zsanett Bragmayer fourth at the recent World Triathlon Championship Hamburg and 11th at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Also, GB’s Kate Waugh who is having a magnificent season with five top 10 places in European and World Championship races most notably 10th place in the World Championships in Edmonton.
Also, in the mix were Commonwealth Games hopefuls Emma Jackson, Chalotte McShane and Emma Hogan of Australia, Frenchwoman Sandra Dodet 2019 Tongyeong World Triathlon Cup champion and 2019 World Triathlon Junior champion Beatrice Malozzi.
As the race commenced early morning to a spectacular sunrise off Haeundae Beach for the 750m swim it was no surprise to see the three hot favourites of Bragmayer, Waugh and Potter exit the water first.
The trio then rode the 20k bike segment together maintaining a sizeable gap from the chasing pack and who were unable to bridge that gap as the leading trio entered T2 for the final leg of the 5k run
Potter lost time on Bragmayer and Waugh having an issue with her shoe in transition but It was only a matter of time before Potter who holds the world record (unofficial) time of 14:41 for 5km had reeled in Bragmayer and Waugh to lead the race.
Potter’s style was so easy, every pace seemed to propel her forwards as her run power settled the score running down the blue carpet to the finishing tape to take the win in a time of 56:25 minutes.
Kate Waugh was able to take advantage of the fatigue setting into Hungary Bragmayer coming in second fifteen seconds behind Potter to take home silver with the Hungarian taking third spot.
Potter will remain in the South Korea ‘Bubble’ for next week’s race the World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong, giving her the opportunity to continue to propel herself into the spotlight and mark her out as one to watch in the coming months and years ahead.
