There are sprint finishes … and then there are sprint finishes. 5-woman sprint at Wollongong World Cup
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World Triathlon
When it comes to winning a sprint, Tilda Mansson has it dialled in. She’ll turn 20 next month, but the young Swede has already won three World Cup races, including yesterday’s World Triathlon Cup Wollongong in Australia. All three of those wins have come from sprint finishes – she won in Bergen in 2022 by outsprinting Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen and Great Britain’s Kate Waugh, and took the sprint once again over Spain’s Noelia Juan at last year’s World Cup in Tiszaujvaros.
This weekend Mansson outdid herself at the World Triathlon Cup Wollongong as she hit the blue carpet with a lead group of seven. Mansson did her magic again, pulling clear to take the win, while officials needed a camera to decide that Colombia’s Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto took the silver medal with New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe earning bronze, leaving the Netherlands’ Rachel Klamer with the same time as the other two, but out of the medals. Bermuda’s Erica Hawley ended up a couple of seconds back in fifth. You can check out the dramatic sprint in the video below.
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Aussie Emma Jeffcoat led the women out of the water after the 750 m swim alongside Canadian Sophia Howell and Great Britain’s Sian Rainsley, but it wasn’t long before they were caught and a group of about 20 women would ride together through the 20 km bike. That set up a 5 km footrace for the title, which the two-time junior world champion took thanks to yet another impressive sprint.
Luke Willian takes a win at home
As part of a lead group of 10 men off the bike, Australia’s Luke Willian took control early on in the run and never looked back as he cruised to a home-country win – his first World Cup win in over seven years. South Africa’s Jamie Riddell took the three-way sprint for the final two medals, with Chile’s Diego Moya grabbing the bronze and New Zealand’s Taylor Reid ending up fourth.
You can find the full results here.
