THE BIG PIC
Team Europe once again ran away with the Collins Cup, triathlon’s answer to golf’s Ryder Cup. On 20 Aug, they scored 53 points compared to the international team’s 38 and USA’s 22.5. The one bright spark for the secondand third-placed teams came in match eight where Lionel Sanders (INT) and Sam Long (USA) finished nearly 30mins ahead of Sam Laidlow (EUR), who’d been trash talking both athletes before the race. “Not bad for a couple duathletes, hey!” said Sanders in reference to Laidlow’s comments.
The first race in the Super League Championships took place in London on 4 September. In the women’s race, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) held off the US’s Taylor Spivey. On the men’s side, NZ’s Hayden Wilde powered past Aussie Matt Hauser for victory. The series finishes in Saudi Arabia on 29 October.
Ironman Wales returned for the first time in three years on 11 September, attracting over 2,000 athletes to beautiful Tenby. GB’s Joe Skipper justified his favourite tag, overcoming a mechanical on the bike to win in 8:35:49. Agegrouper Hannah Saitch was the fastest woman in 10:47:38.
Grade-I listed Bowood House welcomed the country’s middle-distance athletes to the Outlaw Half Bowood on 4 September. The army’s Nick Drabble won the men’s race in 4:12:58, while Oxford Tri’s Rebecca Duxbury won the women’s in 4:23:13, which also gave her fifth overall.
Samorin in Slovakia hosted the World Aquathlon Champs on 18 August. Here, Bulgaria’s Alexander Bozhilov (60) battles with GB’s Callum Stedman. They’d finish 15th and 32nd, respectively. Márk Dévay (HUN) took the victory. For the women, Germany’s Céline Kaiser claimed gold.