Undaunted by near 100 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and similarly warm water, Flora Duffy of Bermuda broke away from chief rival Georgia Taylor-Brown on the run to claim victory at the World Triathlon Grand Final in Abu Dhabi and claim her fourth World Triathlon championship.
Duffy won again in signature fashion, rising the occasion when the pressure was highest. After Duffy and Taylor-Brown emerged from T2 together, Duffy bided her time until the halfway point of the run. Whereupon she stepped on the gas, and shut the door on her Olympic silver medalist rival. After weathering hellish heat without respite, Duffy punched the air as she crossed the line with no rivals in sight.
With her heroics in Abu Dhabi, Duffy won her 4th World Triathlon World Championship (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) breaking a 3-win tie with Emma Snowsill of Australia (2003, 2005, 2006).
On the day, Duffy took home $30,000 for the Grand Final victory, and $80,000 for the World Triathlon Championship Series bonus pool. The title follows her victory at the 2021 Olympic Games – marking her as perhaps the greatest Olympic distance triathlon competitor.
“I’m really, really proud of this one,” Duffy told World Triathlon media afterwards. “It was a difficult start to the year for me coming out of the Olympics and Covid and everything. It took a lot of work to get my mind back into it, so I’m thrilled. I smiled a few times when it was just me and Georgia… I feel like she brings me to another level. We don’t really give each other an inch and I just wanted to stay safe because it’s super-hot out there. When I got a little bit of a gap on the third lap of the run it was a little sooner than I anticipated but I thought; ‘Well, gotta go now!’”
“I gave it everything I had today,” said Taylor-Brown. “It’s been a hard few months and I’ve tried to forget about it all. But I’m really proud of myself out there today and giving it everything. We were battling it out to the end and I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I don’t think she would [either]. I’m still learning in every race and I still want that world title one day.”
“I can’t believe it - I need a few days to let it sink in,” said bronze medalist Lena Meissner, obviously on top of the world with her first World Championship podium. “It was tough but I got here 10 days ago, had good heat prep and there was lots of water and ice out there. I just tried to stay calm and confident and it worked perfectly for me today.”
“I’m pretty shocked, there were a lot of ups and downs in the season and today,” Knibb told World Triathlon media. “The [crash in the corner] was entirely my fault, I wasn’t fully processing things at that point. It was user error and I’m sorry to Maya [Kingma] and Vittoria [Lopes] and Lena [Meissner] behind me for that. Hopefully I will be back here in March to go again.”
Race Recap>
Flora Duffy and Georgia Taylor Brown had modest starts, and Taylor Knibb led to the first buoy on the first lap. Knibb then led to the first turnaround with Duffy on her feet, then Beth Potter, Vittoria Lopes and Taylor Brown out in 5th. By the end of the second 750-meter lap, Summer Rappaport charged into contention into second place, three seconds after Duffy.
Germans Laura Lindemann and Lisa Tertsch and Maya Kingma of the Netherlands were also in the top 10. Duffy proved a master of transition and jetted away on the lead with Taylor-Brown and Potter in the chase.
Knibb and Meissner caught up quickly to catch on, followed by Taylor Spivey and Kirsten Kasper riding together 23 seconds back. Up front, Knibb was looking for an opening so Championship Series leader had to keep fully alert for any sign of an American charge through the tight and technical corners.
Duffy then started a mini-break, as Lindemann and Tertsch fell off the pace and the German fell 90 seconds back after five laps.
Duffy then started to test those around her, a mini-break not sticking, the leaders stretching out then coming together repeatedly, Soon Lindemann fell off the pace to join those behind, then including Tertsch after the German came off but 90 seconds back after five laps.
On the seventh lap, disaster struck. Knibb’s wheel slid out, taking Maya Kingma with her. Lopes and Meissner just missed the pile-up and were able to stay with Duffy and Taylor-Brown up ahead. While gathering her bike, Knibb wrestled with her chain but managed to ride back up to Kingma at the bell. But thereupon there were just four main contenders left in a chase for the podium.
Starting lap three of the run, Duffy accelerated up a small hill and it became clear that Taylor-Brown had no answer. Taylor-Brown finished with the silver and Meissner took a first WTCS podium ahead of Knibb. Leonie Periault ran into fifth place, and Lopes took sixth ahead of Spivey,
World Triathlon WTCS Abu Dhabi Grand Final
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
November 25, 2922
S 1.5 k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
1. Flora Duffy (BER) S 19:20 T1 1:13 B 59:58 T2 00:29 R 32:27 TOT 1:53:24
2. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) S 19:25 T1 1:11 B 59:54 T2 00:26 R 33:33 TOT 1:54:28
3. Lena Meissner GER S 19:30 T1 1:10 B 59:51 T2 00:27 R 35:03 TOT 1:55:59
4. Taylor Knibb (USA) S 19:26 T1 1:18 B 1:00:20 T2 00:31 R 35:07 TOT 1:56:40
5. Leonie Periault (FRA) S 20:00 T1 1:12 B 1:02:2 T2 00:26 R 32:54 TOT 1:56:51
6. Vittoria Lopes (BRA) S 19:24 T1 1:16 B 59:53 T2 00:31 R 35:57 TOT 1:56:59
7. Taylor Spivey (USA) S 19:41 T1 1:11 B 1:02:03 T2 00:28 R 34:23 TOT 1:57:44
8. Emma Lombardi (FRA) S 19:46 T1 1:10 B 1:02:30 T2 00:23 R 34:02 TOT 1:57:50
9. Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP) S 20:21 T1 1:10 B 1:01:55 T2 00:24 R 34:08 TOT 1:57:50
10. Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) S 19:29 T1 1:12 B 1:02:53 T2 00:26 R 34:15 TOT 1:58:13
17. Kirsten Kasper (USA) S 19:44 T1 1:11 B 1:02:00 T2 00:31 R 35:59 TOT 1:59:23
18. Erika Ackerlund (USA) S 20:13 T1 1:15 B 1:02:02 T2 00:24 R 35:38
28. Summer Rappaport (USA) S 19:23 T1 1:17 B 1:03:25 T2 00:29 R 36:01 TOT 2:00:32
World Triathlon Championship Series 2022 - Women
1. Flora Duffy (BER) 5105.63
2. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) 5081.25 +24
3. Taylor Knibb (USA) 4179.23
4. Taylor Spivey (USA) 3889.44
5. Cassandre Beauqrand (FRA) 3801.32
6. Sophie Coldwell (GBR) 3537.29
7. Beth Potter (GBR) 3537.29
8. Laura Lindemann (GER) 3296.14
9. Maya Kingma (NED) 3101.88
10. Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP) 3019.96
