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Beaulieu dominates Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Tiszaujaros

Quebec junior surges to first international win in Hungary

Photo by: Kevin Mackinnon

Well that’s one way to celebrate turning 18! Quebec’s Mathis Beaulieu celebrated his birthday last week, then won his first major international event at the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Tiszaujvaros, one of the sport’s classic short-course venues. This was the 21st time Tiszaujvaros, Hungary has hosted a World Triathlon event. While Canadians have won top junior events in North America, it has been rare to see Canadians excel on the competitive European circuit.

“It’s pretty fun to be able to get this first win (on the week of my birthday),” Beaulieu said. “I hope to get another podium next week in Tabor (Czech Republic).”

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Like the event in Montreal a few weeks ago, the course in Tiszaujvaros featured a super-sprint distance – 500 m swim, 12 km bike and a 3.3 km run. Three semifinal heats on Saturday saw the top nine finishers move to the final along with the next three fastest times. Beaulieu won his heat on Saturday, then took the final in 36:25, 13 seconds up on Chile’s Andree Buc and Hungary’s Zalan Hobor – a photo finish would see Buc take the silver medal.

“The first swim was pretty brutal, and everybody was pushing extremely hard on the bike so it made the race really hard, but when it came to the run I felt good and decided to push,” said Beaulieu.

Another Quebec athlete, Alexandre Leblanc, finished 23rd in 37:58, with Dorval, Que.’s Nicolas Bolouri taking 29th in 39:39.

Montreal’s Clara Normand (45:32) took 26th in the junior women’s race. Victoria’s Jamie Harker qualified for the final, but did not finish the final, which put her in 30th.

Results from the race can be found here.