The heat-fest isn’t the only big story leading up to Singapore T100 – men’s favourite breaks his wrist during training
As Southeast Asia suffers "searing heat," athletes prepare for the second race in the T100 World Triathlon Tour
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Photo: PTO
Southeast Asia is suffering through yet another heat wave right now. With temperatures soaring past 42 degrees C in the Philippines, schools are suspending classes, while Vietnam “declared a state of emegency after abnormally high temperatures in the south dried up entire rice fields,” according to CNN.
Singapore, the sight of this weekend’s T100 World Triathlon Tour event, is facing similar heat issues, which is likely to make the weekend’s racing yet another “war of attrition,” as Canada’s Paula Findlay described the first race of the T100 tour in Miami.
One athlete most likely to excel in the heat is defending champion, Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle. Gentle has always done well in hot weather races, highlighted by her amazing run split at the PTO US Open in Dallas, Texas a few years ago.
The extreme heat, along with the long travel and health issues, saw many of the women’s T100 contracted athletes take a pass on the Singapore race, including PTO top-ranked Anne Haug (GER), her countrywoman Laura Philipp, Great Britain’s Holly Lawrence, Kat Matthews and Emma Pallant-Browne, Canadians Paula Findlay and Tamara Jewett, Bermuda’s Flora Duffy (who isn’t likely to race in the series until after the Olympics) and Americans Taylor Knibb and Taylor Spivey (like Duffy, not likely to race until after Paris, along with their countrywoman Skye Moench.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t lots of firepower on the start list. Gentle will have her work cut out to defend the title against Kona champ Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), who is returning from a calf injury and steadily gaining fitness after her runner-up finish in Miami. Add to that Miami champ, Great Britain’s India Lee and Lucy Byram, along with 2022 Ironman world champ Chelsea Sodaro (third in Singapore last year) and Swiss star Imogen Simmonds and there are lots of big names with athletes who have done well in hot conditions. Others to keep an eye on include France’s Marjolaine Pierre and Australia’s Ellie Salthouse.
You can see the full pro list here.
Ditlev suffers broken wrist
More of the contracted men remain on the start list for Singapore – most likely because they’re looking to stack up their contracted requirements in order to skip Ibiza and Las Vegas, which will take place closer to the men’s Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
Denmark’s Magnus Ditlev proved that he could do well in the heat with his impressive win in Miami, and would have been the outright favourite for Sunday’s men’s race, but broke his wrist in a bike crash earlier this week and is questionable to start.
“I was really confident coming from the win in Miami, but on my first bike ride I had a crash and fractured my wrist so we’re not quite sure about if I will even be able to make it to the start line at the moment,” Ditlev said. “But I’m taking every day as it comes and seeing how it goes. I’ll definitely give everything I can to get ready, but at the same time don’t want to take a risk so early in the series.”
Another reported late scratch from the men’s race is Javier Gomez, who also had to skip the Miami race. Third-place finisher in Miami, Mathis Marigier (FRA), has also elected to skip the race in Singapore, as has 70.3 world champ Rico Bogen (GER).
The list of potential podium finishers is, well, the entire field. Two-time British Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee has had another month to build on his fitness – can he overcome the heat this time to hang on for a win? (He led much of the Miami race before fading in the final few kilometres.) American run speedster Jason West, his countryman Sam Long – fresh off a runner-up finish in Miami and Oceanside last weekend, and yet another American Rudy Von Berg, are all men to keep an eye on. Nice world champ Sam Laidlow should be rounding into shape, Dane Daniel Baekkergard is high on many people’s lists as a potential champ, Youri Keulen had a great day to take fourth in Miami … basically the list could go on. You can see the pro entry list here.
How to watch
Those in the eastern time zone will have to be pretty dedicated to watch the racing this weekend – the women’s broadcast starts at 2 pm local time (2 am EST) with the race starting at 2:15 on Saturday, while the men’s race goes at 3 pm local time (3 am EST) with the race start at 3:15 pm on Sunday.
You can watch the race on the T100 Youtube channel or on the PTO+ website.
