Bouncing back after a bike crash DNF at the WTS season opener in Abu Dhabi, Flora Duffy followed a dominating win at Bermuda with a decisive victory at WTS Yokohama.
The victory was Duffy’s 10th in just 31 WTS races, victories achieved in the past two years. While her 33:26 run split dominated this race, it was one minute off retired Olympic champion Gwen Jorgenson’s race record run split. However, Duffy has definitely taken over Jorgensen’s role as the dominator of the women's WTS circuit.
Coming off the bike at the top of a closely bunched pack, Duffy and Katie Zaferes of the U.S. broke away and ran together for the first kilometer before the two-time WTS defending World Champion Bermudian turned on the jets. After a race-best 33:26 run, Duffy hit the tape in a sizzling fast 1:53:26 with a 33 seconds margin of victory over Zaferes and 1:16 on 3rd place finisher Non Stanford, the 2013 WTS World Champion who earned her first podium in two years.
After falling behind in WTS points after her Abu Dhabi mishap, Duffy vaulted to the top of the women’s points chase with her second straight 1,000 point performance. After her Abu Dhabi crash, Zaferes vaulted to second place in the standings after a 3rd at Bermuda and 2nd at Yokohama that gave her a total of 1781 points after the third WTS race of the season. Kirsten Kasper of the U.S., who led the points chase after Bermuda, fell to third in the standings with 1582 points when she crashed and did not finish at Yokohama.
“Coming after such a high in April from wins at the Commonwealth Games and Bermuda, it was definitely a stretch to get here,” Duffy told ITU Media. “I am very happy with my race, I often don’t get enough credit for my running, I came off the bike with a group of really strong runners.”
Duffy narrowly avoided running into Kirsten Kasper, who crashed on the bike and had to abandon the race with evident injuries. “That was pretty scary,” said Duffy. “It looked pretty nasty. I always stay a little bit back in tight corners.”
Zaferes was happy that she emerged from the swim much closer to the front than she had at Bermuda - just 4 seconds behind Duffy on this day.
“My main focus to start the race was to get out of the swim in good shape,” said Zaferes. “I told Flora 'I’m coming with you' and stayed at the front.”
After Duffy zoomed away after a kilometer of the run, Zaferes struggled to hold off fast charging Non Stanford midway through the 10 kilometer run.
“I felt real rough on the second lap of the run,” said Zaferes, who then found a second wind. “I kept telling myself, ‘Forward focus! Forward focus! Forward focus!’”
Stanford was thrilled to be back on the podium after two years struggling with injuries. “It shows if you stay patient and keep plugging you can get to a point where you can perform at your high standards again,” said Stanford. “I don’t want to be average - I want to be the best.”
WTS Yokohama Women
Yokohama, Japan
May 12, 2018
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Elite Women Results
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 1:53:26
2. Katie Zaferes (USA) 1:53:59
3. Non Stanford (GBR) 1:54:42
4. Ashley Gentle (AUS) 1:55:04
5. Claire Michel (BEL) 1:55:13
6. Summer Cook (USA) 1:55:39
7. Vendula Frintova (CZE) 1:55:47
8. Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) 1:55:53
9. Charlotte McShane (AUS) 1:56:01
10. Laura Lindemann (GER) 1:56:06
