On a steamy afternoon in the Romanian hills of Targu Mures, it was two seasoned pros who led the way to dominate the women’s race. The first gold medal at the 2022 World Triathlon Multisport World Championships went to Eleonora Peroncini, who revealed her plan to retire after a typically powerful bike to set up a first world title in the format and follow up her 2019 Cross Triathlon title in fine fashion.
The Italian passed Austria’s Carina
Wasle on the first lap of that middle segment and pulled clear with a
devastating 90-minute bike on a demanding hilly and technical course.
Netherlands’ newcomer Noor Dekker finished with a brilliant bronze.
“I never expected this result, I’m
very happy because this will be my last event,” said a delighted Peroncini.
“The type of bike course is always important for me, and the run was super tough.”
The start list was a Europe-heavy
affair, and it was Wasle who clearly wanted to show the young guns what she can
do with a lightening quick opening kilometre. Only Kristina Lapinova (SVK) was
able to keep in touch, but the deficit had grown from 6 to 11 seconds by the
end of the run, and was increased yet further when the Slovak struggled to get
into her bike shoes once out of transition.
That left the door somewhat open for
Peroncini, who was soon through it and pulling right up on Lapinova, Dekker
never far behind, clearly loving her debut at the top level.
It was over the tough 23km bike that
Romania’s hopes of a medal finally faded with Agnes Tuszon struggling to cope
with the sharp climbs, leaving a four-way battle for the medals.
Having been over a minute slower over
the opening 6km run, it was Peroncini who showed she still had the legs and the
staying power to maintain her lead right to the tape, Wasle unable to make any
inroads in that gap as she realised silver was hers, Dekker likewise happy
that, while she couldn’t make any headway towards silver, the bronze was
undoubtedly hers on the final lap.
“That means a lot to me,” said Carina
Wasle. “The last few years weren’t easy, I thought my career was finished so to
win a medal makes me very happy. I changed my coach, had not a lot of racing,
but I got more experience and that helped me a lot. I’ve known Eleonora a long
time, I was sure she would pass me at some point, and I felt good on the final
run and show I was stronger on the bike.”
“I didn’t dream of that medal,”
admitted Noor Dekker. “I didn’t know what to expect and the hills were killing
me in the end, I’m not used to them in the Netherlands. I practiced a lot of
steep climbs, and really enjoyed myself out there.”
Full results can be found here https://triathlon.org/results/result/2022_world_triathlon_cross_duathlon_championships_targu_mures/550522?mc_cid=56822fa510&mc_eid=6139649918
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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