Triathlon Mixed Team Relay World Championships
The mixed team relay was the final event in Hamburg, Germany to round off a slightly controversial and unconventional World Championships that had taken place over the weekend. Competing in unchartered territories with no spectators and the rainbow stripes on the line, Vincent Luis (FRA) and Georgia Taylor Brown (GBR) reigned victorious in the individual events on Saturday in a European dominated field. Of Saturday’s medalists, all but Vincent Luis and Flora Duffy returned on the Sunday to compete for their country, setting spectators at home up for an exciting race.
World Championships Controversy
The mixed team relay shared the same feeling of being more like a European Championships than a World Championships with 18 of the 20 entered teams from the continent, the exceptions being Brazil and USA. With 2013 world champion Non Stanford unable to compete for a spot on the British team either due to living in Australia, athletes from home and away were left flustered by the events title.
In the buildup to the race there was a lot of criticism from athletes in the Southern Hemisphere, with 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold and Bronze medal winning teams Australia and New Zealand sharing their displeasure at the ITU’s abrupt decision to rename this standalone WTS event this year’s World Championship race. Henri Schoeman, the Rio Olympics Bronze Medalist and 2018 Commonwealth Gold Medalist was another athlete who was especially critical, as due to Coronavirus restrictions he and his fellow countrymen were unable to travel, leaving the Republic of South Africa with no representation in the individual or mixed team relay events apart from the European based Richard Murray. There was unfortunately no Team Canada on the start sheet either, with neither Tokyo test event winner Tyler Mislawchuk nor Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist Joanna Brown unable to show off the gains they’d made over lockdown.
The absence of some of the circuit’s top performers undoubtedly left question marks over the validity of the 2020 “World Champion” titles but these athletes didn’t get to where they are by worrying too much over the bureaucracy of the International Triathlon Union, and those who missed out will most certainly be putting in the work to set the record straight next year in Tokyo.
Race Day
Controversy aside, the mixed team relay proved to be a great battle in conditions that were wet early on but improved throughout the course of the race. The pre-race favorites included a young GB squad including Barclay Izzard after the withdrawal of Jonny Brownlee, a strong American squad and last year’s Tokyo Test event champions France.
The first leg was a close affair with Therese Feuersinger of Austria leading into T1, with Georgia Taylor-Brown of GB trailing by 11 seconds after the first discipline. On a wet bike course, the lead group of 13 which included Taylor Spivey (USA) , Maya Kingma (NED) and Leonie Periault (FRA) all riding sensibly on the technical course, with the Norwegian Lotte Miller leading the group into T2, with a small chase pack of Portugal, Russia and Spain 24 seconds down, with a small chase pack of Portugal, Russia and Spain 24 seconds down. On the run, it was yesterday’s individual race winner Taylor-Brown who charged away from Taylor Spivey and Valerie Barthelemey over the 1.7km leg to give Great Britain a sizeable lead of 13 seconds over Miller, Spivey, Periault, Barthelemey and Alberte Pedersen (DEN) when handing over to Barclay Izzard.
Izzard put together a strong swim but was caught by a group of eight athletes with 50m to go, leading to a hectic T2. Out on the bike, the group that left T2 together of Izzard, Leo Bergere (FRA), Kevin McDowell (USA), Jelle Geens (BEL), Frantisek Linduska (CZE), Alois Knabl (AUT) and Marco Van Der Stel (NED) was quickly blown to pieces after just 2km by the Norwegian powerhouse Kristian Blummenfelt. Over the remaining 5km of the bike leg, Blummenfelt demonstrated incredible bike handling skills and power to put 15 seconds into Bergere, Izzard, McDowell, Geens, Knabl and Emil Holm (DEN) who despite riding in a group couldn’t catch him. The Norwegian hit the gas immediately on the run, but lost 3 seconds on the multi terrain course after strong runs from Geens and Bergere, who were followed into the changeover area 10 seconds ahead of Izzard and McDowell.
Norway’s inexperienced third leg athlete Stine Dale put in a valiant effort to maintain her country’s lead on the swim but was caught by previous Hamburg winner Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA), 2019 World Champion Katie Zaferes (USA) and Commonwealth Games medalist Jess Learnmonth (GBR) after 150m. These three led into T1 and rode away on the technical course in a move that proved decisive in determining who the medals went to. Beaugrand hung onto the well working duo of Learnmonth and Zaferes to give the trio a 40 second lead going into the run over the Belgian Claire Michel. Surprisingly, strong runner Beaugrand was unable to shake off Zaferes or Learnmonth on the run leg and the three handed over to their respective teammates within a second of each other. By now everything but the order of the medals was decided, with Claire Michel almost a minute back in a distant fourth.
It shaped up to be a showdown by the best runners in the sport Morgan Pearson (USA) and Alex Yee (GBR). However, Frenchman Dorian Coninx led the swim before making a decisive move on the bike to lead into T2 with a 16 second buffer over Pearson and almost 30 seconds over 13.26 5km runner Yee. Whilst Yee eventually lost time on Coninx, last year’s WTS Bermuda winner showed why good judgement is key in such short races, with Morgan Pearson gaining 11 seconds over a mile to just lose out on the world title by a touch over 5 seconds. Coninx raced well and the French team deservedly were crowned World Champions, with the USA taking silver and GB rounding off the podium. Norway impressed in their first ever mixed team relay event with 4th place and were followed home by Belgium and Denmark.
Tokyo Talking Points
Looking ahead to Tokyo, the French will feel confident in taking home the gold but will face stiff competition from New Zealand and Australia, with both nations feeling they have a point to prove after missing this year’s Worlds. Team Canada will also believe they can medal, along with host nation Japan who were unable to compete in Hamburg.
Team selection as always will be a major headache for several nations. France have incredible strength in depth, with world champion Vincent Luis and WTS regular Pierre Le Corre strong candidates for a spot on the team. Jonny Brownlee may be GB’s missing ingredient when it comes to climbing to the top step, however Alex Yee in my mind looks to have solidified his claim to selection with 5th in the individual race and a great performance on the anchor leg in the mixed team relay. With Sophie Coldwell, Vicky Holland, Non Stanford, Jodie Stimpson and Olivia Mathias all vying for a place on the plane to Japan, I do not envy the GB selectors dilemma over whether to keep the seemingly successful combination of Learmonth and Taylor-Brown.
Teams to look out for are the Norwegian contingent, where another year of development for Stine Dale could prove important. Sporting director Arlid Tveiten will have to make a tough call between his golden boys, with Casper Stornes being the member of the formidable trio who missed out on this weekend’s team. Belgium, who placed fifth in Hamburg may believe they could challenge for a medal, especially as this weekend they were missing the talented Marten Van Riel who is coming back from injury after breaking his pubic bone.
After a breakthrough last two weeks, Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca will be hoping he can spearhead his nation’s hopes in Tokyo following a disappointing performance for the mixed relay team in Hamburg. With the experience of Joao Silva and Melanie Santos, Portugal’s final team member come the Olympics could be none other than Vasco’s sister Vera Vilaca, a talented member of the national team who will undoubtedly be hoping to turn it into a family affair for the Vilaca’s – only time will tell if this combination could prove pivotal in Portugal’s push for the podium.
Lastly, after his comments before the race, South Africa’s Henri Schoeman will feel he has a point to prove come next year’s games. Schoeman and Richard Murray are generational talents and paired with the consistent Gillian Sanders and the 2018 Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Amber Schlebusch could prove a formidable force.
Whilst this year’s Worlds may not have been what everyone hoped for, Tokyo promises to be an incredible showdown. The countdown begins!
