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Canadian becomes World Champion

18-year-old claims world title in the cross triathlon

On day three of the ITU World Multisport Championships in Fyn, Denmark, Team Canada got some excellent results in the cross triathlon. Most notably, a young Canadian was named a world champion.

18-year-old Tate Haugan is the new junior world cross triathlon champion. Earlier today, Haugan stormed to an early lead in the swim when came out of the water with a three-second gap over Oscar Gladney Rundqvist (DEN). On the bike, the Canadian stretched his lead over Rundqvist and the rest of the field to a minute thirty. In the trail run, Haugan continued to set a strong pace as he held off a late challenge by the Dane and claimed his first world title.

Haugan finished the junior cross triathlon in 1:07:32. Rundqvist would pull back some time in the run, finishing 30 seconds back. Victor Geone of the Netherlands finished in third.

Canada’s age group triathletes also had great success today. Many of our country’s best age groupers achieved top ten performances. Evan Girard had the top performance of the day, placing third in the men’s 25-29 age group.

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Another hard battle! I'm no stranger to adversity, in a twisted way I kinda like it even. So this week when I came down with a cold I was unsure if I'd even be able to finish this race let alone battle for a World Championship. Coughing up phlegm and achy muscles is a terrible way to prepare and wake up on race day, but if that was enough to stop me I would have been done a long time ago. I didn't feel my best, big by a long shot, but like always I gave my absolute best! Even with illness I was able to have a career best swim – despite countless jelly fish stings to my hands and face ? (fuck jellyfish, seriously who needs those losers). A twisty and turny bike loop allowed me to use my power and skills to move up. Finally despite feeling terrible I held it together on the run and fought to the line. Good enough for 3rd place in the world! Extremely proud to have delivered a result when it matters most!

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