A powerful sprint finish crowned
Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo as the 2023 Pan American champion, in a tactical battle
that saw the young Brazilian crossing the finish line just inches ahead of
USA’s Matthew McElroy and Mexico’s Crisanto Grajales.
The day didn’t start promising for
Miguel Hidalgo. Wearing the one on the day, he almost fell on the sand right
after the horn that started the race, almost the last one to hit the choppy and
cold Pacific Ocean waters. While he was still trying to manage the first few
waves, Diego Moya (CHI), Chase MacQueen (USA) and Seth Rider (USA) moved
quickly ahead of the pack, and set up a pace that was hard to follow for the
rest of the athletes, that started to strecht on a long line.
Behind the leading trio, Tyler Smith
(BER) was leading the chasers, but by the time they were out of the water, the
difference with the three men ahead of the race was more than 30 seconds. It
was Diego Moya who hit the first transition in the first place, welcomed by the
loud cheers of hundreds of spectators rooting for the local hero.
Getting out of the wetsuit was not
easy for Moya, Rider and MacQueen, but the three of them managed to mount their
bikes almost together, and together they went on the six laps of the bike
course. Behind them, another American, Matthew McElroy, and Miguel Hidalgo
quickly started to organise the chase, and it took them only one lap to get to
them.
The group was trying to stay together
while up front, a few athletes were attacking trying to break away. First it
was Diego Moya, once again cheered by the local crowds. One lap later it was
McElroy, just to be catched a few turns later. But with one lap to go, McQueen
decided to give it a try again and managed to open a gap that by the time that
he hit the second transition, it was almost 40 seconds.
It proved to be not enough, thought,
and his efforts were in vain when he was swallowed by Moya, McElroy, Grajales
and Hidalgo before the end of the first lap. Rider, Martin Sobey (CAN), Tyler
Smith and Gaspar Riveros (CHI) joined the lead group and for almost 5
kilometers, all of them run shoulder to shoulder, with the local crowds going
wild every time they passed through transition.
With one lap to go, Hidalgo, Grajales
and McElroy made their move and sprinted a bit to get a few meters ahead of the
rest, and then it started a technical battle for the ages. For the last 2.5km,
the three of them were looking at each other, testing the waters and trying to
break away, once at a time, but with no one really opening a gap. It was with
the blue carpet on sight, less than 300 meters to go, when Hidalgo looked up
and went full gas, to cross the finish line a few inches ahead of McElroy and
Grajales.
“This means a lot to me. I watched
the Lima Pan American Games and dreamt of racing here, and here I am now. It is
funny because Crisanto (Grajales) won that race, and today I managed to
outsprint him. This ios my first sprint finish win, I am very pleased with
that. I tried to avoid a sprint finish, I tried to break away multiple times
but I couldn’t, so I am really glad I managed to deliver this win”, said
Hidalgo, who also won at the Brasilia World Cup just two weeks ago.
“I think this was one of the most
tactical races i’ve ever done. The sprint finish was also pretty epic, and I
have to give it to the crowd, it was fantastic. I can easily say that this was
one of the top three triathlons I’ve ever done, and I am so proud to have been
able to finish in the podium”, said McElroy, second on the line. “Pan American
Games are getting deeper and deeper, finishing second here to Hidalgo,
especially when I am not 100% recovered of my back injury, means a lot to me.
This shows that I can be there, and I will come to next season probably in the
best form of my life”, he explained.
Extremely happy was also Grajales
with the bronze medal, the third of his career at the PanAm Games after his
wins in Lima and Toronto. “I am very happy. I came here to fight for the gold
medal but these young generations are really strong, so I am very happy with
third today”, he said.
Another sprint finish for the fourth
place saw Sobey finishes just inches ahead of Rider, while Gaspar Riveros,
Tyler Smith and Diego Moya rounded the top eight. Manoel Messias (BRA) had the
fastest run split of the day, 29:49, but was only able to finish in the 9th place
after a disappointing swim that saw him almost two minutes behind the leaders,
while Paul Wright (BAR) finished in the 10th place.
Check here the full results
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