Yokohama Rocks before World Triathlon Championship Race
Yokohama was rocking before the World Triathlon Championship Race this Saturday 13th May, as an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 jolted eastern Japan early Thursday.
Many people said they woke up after a big bang and were quite concerned as their beds began to jolt to-and-fro. Although no significant damage or serious injuries have been reported with Japan being home to some of the most resilient buildings in the world.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency warned that quakes on a similar scale could occur for about a week. Several Japan Railway services were cancelled or delayed following the quake.
It may be a case of the winners of this race having the capacity to also dance as the ground moves beneath them.
With no Beth Potter or Alex Yee (winners in Abu Dhabi) in the starting line-up for this Saturdays second series race the opportunity arises for other big names to gain points on the leader board.
In the women’s race GB’s Sophie Coldwell lines-up alongside reigning world silver medallist Georgie Taylor-Brown, who is starting her bid for her first world title. Coldwell will wear the number one following her silver at Abu Dhab. They Brits will not have it easy with the Americans of Taylor Knibb and Taylor Spivey leading the line for the USA. Other threats will come in the form of France’s Emma Lombardi the talented former U23 World Champion who had an outstanding 2022 plus the strong German Laura Lindermann and bike specialist Maya Kingma of Netherlands. This race is too tight to call.
Although Commonwealth and Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee is missing, GB’s Barclay Izzard & Jack Wills start in the men’s race in Japan. This will really be a test outing for the Brits with the return of the big guns to the blue carpet in the shape of Olympic Gold medallist Kristian Blummenfelt, Marten Van Riel and Morgan Pearson to name just three who get their first action this weekend. The presence of the 2022 World Champion Leo Bergere with his fellow teammates Dorian Coninx and Tom Richard make the French squad a formable force to be reckoned with. Wearing the WTCA number one will be Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca thanks to a fantastic display in Abu Dhabi where he came second to Alex Yee.
You can watch all races live on TriathlonLive.tv, while UK audiences can also stream live coverage of the men’s and women’s races via BBC.
Follow all the action on across the BBC on Red Button, BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website & app.
Saturday 13 May
02:00 – 04:20 – Women’s Race – Red Button, BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website & app.
04:40 – 07:10 – Men’s Race – Red Button, BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website & app.
Also available to watch back on demand via BBC iPlayer.
