It was the perfectly executed race for Beth Potter, in the 2021 World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong, as the British triathlete dominated across the sprint-distance course, to run away with victory in South Korea. Training partner Kate Waugh showcased a powerful performance, working hard with Potter for the duration of the race, to sprint down the finish chute and earn the silver medal. 2019 World Cup Tongyeong champion Sandra Dodet made up striking time on the run, after coming off the bike 1-minute down on the race leaders, to claim the bronze medal in 2021.
Tongyeong is set off the southern
coast of Korea and set the stage for the final World Cup races of the 2021
season. Cooler conditions set the scene for race day, for the elite women’s
race, with the water temperature at 19.3 degrees Celsius and the air
temperature 13.2 degrees Celsius, ensuring a wet suit swim start for the
athletes, which commenced at 0900AM KST.
Great Britain’s Beth Potter and
fellow compatriot Kate Waugh led the women through the 750m swim, were the
first athletes into the first transition and onto the bike. The 20km bike
course (3-laps) in Tongyeong is known for it’s technical sections and
challenging climbs and descents. Beth Potter led for the first portion, but it
wasn’t long before Waugh, who earned silver in last weekend’s World Triathlon
Cup Haeundae, made contact and the training partners rode together for the
entire course. Potter and Waugh had opened up a 20-second gap on the chase
group of women which included 2019 World Cup Tongyeong champion Sandra Dodet,
Emile Morier of France and Australia’s Emma Jackson, all women looking to earn
a World Cup medal in South Korea. Behind the chase group was a huge group of
women, who had a lot of work to do to close the gap, riding 45-seconds down on
the leaders.
On the final bike lap Potter and
Waugh had an impressive 1-minute advantage on the field. Across the final stage
Waugh attempted to open up a gap over Potter, by making a move to take the
lead. Potter is known for her striking run talent so Waugh knew the gap would
need to be sizeable, to be in the running for the gold medal. Waugh charged out
of transition and onto the run, 10-seconds ahead of Potter and still with a
notable 1-minute gap on the women’s field in Tongyeong.
The chasers blasted out of the second
transition of the day and the group started to string out, the bronze medal was
still for the taking and the likes of Dodet and Jackson were on the hunt.
Waugh and Potter continued to build
momentum as they tackled the challenging course and hill in Tongyeong and on
the final lap Potter surged to lead the race over Waugh.
Beth Potter looked exceptional as she
hit the blue-carpet and charged down the finish chute to win the 2021 World
Triathlon Cup Tongyeong, in a winning time of 00:58:08.
“Today I had all the choices on the
pontoon. I worked the swim really hard and the first bit of the bike and we
were just extending the lead.”
“No panic. I know my strength and I
know it’s better for me to close it gradually. I stayed cool and worked the up
hill, worked the downhill and just had full momentum going past and I used that
to full advantage," said Potter.
Just behind Potter, Kate Waugh held
onto the silver medal, clocking 00:58:11.
“I felt strong last week, I thought I
just played the race to my strengths. It felt like another training session
together with Beth and I.”
“I had to play the race to my
strength. I had to get a little gap on the run, I tried to go for it. I thought
I would give myself the best chance to standing on the top step.”
“I am so happy with how these races
have gone. I have gained so much confidence and experience. It’s so beautiful
here, I will definitely be back," Waugh said.
A strong finish saw Sandra Dodet of
France claim the bronze medal in South Korea.
“I had a better swim than last
weekend. We were a big group on the bike so I knew I had to push on the run to
be on the podium," said Dodet.
Australia’s Emma Jackson had a
brilliant race in Tongyeong to finish in fourth and Roksana Slupek from Poland
finished in fifth.
Review the full women’s results.
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all related
multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross
triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney
2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at
Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at
Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport
worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our
core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be
extraordinary.
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