Olympic medalists Duffy and Wilde win Xterra World Championship

Bermuda’s Flora Duffy (seen above at the 2019 Xterra World Championship) has had such a great year (Olympic gold medal and a third World Triathlon World Championship title) that Bermuda has created a holiday in her name, and she continued her winning ways with a sixth Xterra world title today. On the men’s side it was New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, the bronze medalist from Tokyo, who would earn his first Xterra World Championship.

Thanks to hazardous water conditions event organizers cancelled the swim yesterday, but that didn’t seem to hinder Duffy one bit as she led the women’s race from start to finish. She was a few seconds ahead of Mexican Michelle Flipo after the first run, and was over four-minutes up on Switzerland’s Loanne Duvoisin by the end of the 31 km cross-country bike. The 11 km run allowed the Bermudan to add even more time to her lead – she would cross the line over seven-minutes ahead of Duvoisin, with Flipo taking third.

Women’s results:

1. Flora Duffy (BER) 2:39:49
2. Loanne Duvoisin (SUI) 2:46:56
3. Michelle Flipo (MEX) 2:50:17
4. Eleanor Proncini (ITA) 2:56:09
5. Suzie Snyder (USA) 3:02:01

Wilde runs his way to the title

Hayden Wilde, a two-time U19 Xterra world champ, got his start in triathlon through Xterra racing, so the trip to Maui this year was very much a return to his roots after his Olympic exploits in July. He led the men after the first 3 km of running, then found himself in touch with a group of four off the bike in the hunt for the medals. Wilde would run his way to the top spot, with France’s Arthur Serrieres taking second and Spain’s Ruben Ruzafa rounding out the podium. (It was American Seth Rider would be left off the podium.

Men’s pro results

1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) 2:18:39
2. Arthur Serrieres (FRA) 2:19:02
3. Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) 2:19:33
4. Seth Rider (USA) 2:20:43
5. Sebastian Carabin (BEL) 2:21:02