Saturday evening saw the culmination
of the 2023 Arena Games Triathlon Series powered by Zwift, where Henri Schoeman
(RSA) and Sophie Linn (AUS) became World Champions
It was to be a day to remember for
Australia’s Sophie Linn and Henri Schoeman as they secured the 2023 Arena Games
Triathlon Series powered by Zwift world titles after coming through hard-fought
finals on Saturday evening at London Aquatics Arena.
Two sessions of heats and repechages
had boiled the 30 men and 30 women starting Friday’s heats down to 10 apiece
for the three-stage finales at London Aquatics Centre, and the athletes
delivered a big finish for the packed crowds.
Roared on by the crowds, Beth Potter
pulled clear of Cassandre Beaugrand to claim the women's win, but from the
moment Gina Sereno had to serve a five-second penalty heading in the final
stage, the world title door suddenly looked open, and Linn was able to take full
advantage.
That also allowed the Netherland’s
Rani Skrabanja to finish a surprise second in the overall standings, Sereno
finishing third thanks to her Montreal win.
Italy's Nicolo Strada was in flying
form to win the men's race but silver was enough to earn Schoeman the big prize
thanks to his win in Switzerland. Having been the last name on the men's start
list, Gustav Iden grew into the race to eventually finish fifth, with New
Zealand’s Kyle Smith in third and Switzerland’s Simon Westermann in fourth.
That saw Westermann join Schoeman and
Strada on the overall podium at the end of a 2023 series that took in Montreal
and Sursee on route to London.
WOMEN'S REPORT
It was Beaugrand who blew apart the
women's field early on with a 2m10s time on the first 200m swim of the three
ahead, only for Britain’s Olivia Mathias to pull alongside on the bike. With
Zsanett Bragmayer also close to hand, it was suddenly Potter bursting through
to the front, putting in 10 seconds to Beaugrand and Mathias, title-challenger
Sereno already finding herself 10 seconds off the pace.
The first run belonged to Potter,
another title hopeful Bragmayer falling back, Beaugrand finishing 10 seconds
back, Skrabanja 14 and Linn 19 seconds off the front, Mathias and Bragmayer
looking out of the hunt.
Potter takes control
It was run-bike-swim for Stage Two,
Potter, Beaugrand and Sophie Linn the fastest through the Zwift Crit City 1km
opener before hitting the bikes, Sereno hanging tough 10 seconds off the front.
Back in the water, though, it was
another masterclass from Beaugrand to take to the front, Potter impressively
sticking to the task to finish a stroke behind and ensure a very useful
7-second lead from the pursuit-start Stage Three.
Linn digs in for the win
Sophie Linn dived in 30 seconds off
the front, Rani Skrabanja 8 seconds off the Australian, Sereno now a minute
back and needing a miracle.
As it came to pass, Potter was slick
through the first transition once again and then extended her lead further with
a brilliant bike segment to put enough daylight to start the 1km run with gold
in her grasp.
It was the fourth Arena Games win for
potter but the first time she had beaten the French star in the format, adding
to the satisfaction of the 20-second win margin. A further 20 seconds back,
Linn was cruising, safe from the marauding Skrabanja, Emma Jackson with fifth.
“That feels really good. It’s next
level racing,” said a thrilled Sophie Linn. “You have to make peace with the
fact youre going to be in a lot of pain.”
“That was very hard, thanks to
everyone cheering me on it really helped get me over the line,” added Beth
Potter. “I do this a lot in my training programme but I’ve actually never
beaten Cassandre so that’s a big win for me and I held tight.”
MEN'S REPORT
Just five seconds separated the top
seven at the end of the first 200m swim, but Strada was soon to the front on
the first 4km bike, Smith in hot pursuit as he continued his impressive first
dose of super-sprint action.
Out and onto the 1km run, Iden found
himself some 16 seconds back in 8th position as the front pair of Strada and
Smith couldn’t be contained, even by the mighty Schoeman, Chase McQueen finding
himself 30 seconds back and his world title hopes already dashed.
Vogel steps into reckoning
The second stage began on the
treadmills, where it was again Smith and Germany’s Johannes Vogel into their
stride and pulling away from the field, Fabian Meussen also going well and Iden
staying in touch.
Iden put on a show for the crowds on
the middle bike, he and Strada showing those trailing in their wake how to dig
deep, Smith and Jeremy Briand giving their all to keep them in sight, Schoeman
six seconds off the front.
For the swim, though, it was the
Strada and Schoeman show, the Italian bullet just managing to keep his rival at
bay to give himself a precious seven-second advantage on the pursuit start but
knowing second would still give Schoeman the overall title.
Strada stretches out
Into the water for the final time,
Iden was 30 seconds off Strada but only nine off Smith in third, and able to
stay in touch this time in the water as the New Zealander tired.
Strada took a 6-second lead onto the
bike, but it was the 7 seconds separating Smith, Westermann, Vogel and Iden in
the hunt for third that was heating up, and even though Iden found the reserves
to record the fastest run split of the stage, it was Kyle Smith who put in a
huge sprint finish over the final 200m to win the bronze.
Out ahead, Strada was delighted to
take the race gold, but Schoeman had already allowed himself a smile on the
treadmill as he knew that the title was his and his return from injury had made
another totemic shift forward.
“There’s no words to describe it,”
said Schoeman. “I wanted to get into racing and sharpen up the body with Arena
Games and I fell in love with the format. The crowd was amazing and pushed us
to the limits. Biggups to Nicolo Strada and Simon too. From the get-go I was
cramping and just had to manage my effort, I got back close in stage two and
was just hard racing for second and get to the end.”
“It’s an honour to be second overall
and first today, I love the indoor format and I’m super happy,” said a smiling
Strada. “I was feeling super good today and when you feel good, it’s easier!”
For the full results, click here. https://triathlon.org/results/result/2023_arena_games_triathlon_finals_london_powered_by_zwift/596065?mc_cid=7b5d9eeac9&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.
www.triathlon.org
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