5 Takeaways from WTCS Yokohama

As one of the longest-running World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) events, a successful day in Yokohama has long been a harbinger for a successful year of racing ahead. Last year Matt Hauser resumed the trend of Yokohama men’s champions taking the world title, which had been the case every year from 2014 to 2021. Gwen Jorgensen won the race four years in a row from 2011 to 2014 as she geared up for her big Olympic win in 2016, too.

So, after yet another exciting day of racing in Japan, here are a few observations:

Månsson Sprints to First WTCS Title

One of the younger athletes in the race, 22-year-old Tilda Månsson from Sweden, took the win in impressive fashion – managing to do what most wouldn’t have anticipated by outsprinting an in-form Beth Potter to take the win. Potter came into Yokohama having won three of her last four WTCS races, and while Jorgensen was winning the triathlon at the Games in Rio, the Brit was there competing in the 10,000 m on the track. The race seemed destined to become a footrace from early on – a huge group of women exited the water together, and the lead group of 22, along with the chase pack of 11 that included Jorgensen joined together to hit T2 at once.

Which set up the 10 km run for the medals that saw France’s Emma Lombardi make the initial push, only to be marked by defending champ Jeanne Lehair, reigning world champ Lisa Tertsch and Månsson. Potter found herself having to do some work to get back into the mix after a slow transition, but would move to the front before the halfway point of the race and push the pace, eventually dropping all but Månsson. The Swede might be young, but she does know how to win – after winning the world junior sprint championships in 2022 she won the second World Cup event she competed in, and has taken 15 wins in draft-legal racing over the years. Månsson was able to absorb the pressure Potter put on after the last turn, then turned the tables and managed to open up a bit of a gap as they pair approached the blue carpet, eventually taking the win by a couple of seconds. Lehair would round out the podium.

More of the Same from Hauser

Australia’s Matt Hauser didn’t just take the world title last year – his four wins made him the first male triathlete take four WTCS titles in a season. While the women’s race featured a big group coming into T2 together, Hauser was a key component in the seven-man breakaway that got clear out of the water and would set up the first four across the line.

Hauser’s countryman Brayden Mercer would lead the swim, with the world champ on his feet, along with Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo, Luke Willian (AUS), American Blake Bullard, Brit Max Stapley and Norway’s Vetle Thorn. The much-anticipated showdown between Hauser and reigning Olympic champion Alex Yee never materialized since the British star was 37 seconds back at the end of the swim and the chase group steadily lost ground to the leaders throughout the ride. By the time all was said and done, a group of six (Bullard was dropped) hit T2 with a 1:45 lead on the chasers, setting up a six-way run for the medals.

Hauser and a motivated Hidalgo (he dropped out of the WTCS season-opener in Samarkand) pulled clear of the rest of the men, with Hauser finding another gear that the Brazilian had no answer to, which pulled him to a comfortable 20-second win. Willian managed to hold off Vetle Bergsvik Thorn to round out the podium. (More on fifth-placed Yee later.)

Jorgensen Finishes as Top American

While the winner was born in 2004, the top American in the field was born in 1986. While her seventh-place finish isn’t as impressive as those four straight wins, Gwen Jorgensen proved that she can still race with the very best in the sport. Her 33:42 was the sixth-fastest run of the day and enough to get her to the line 20 seconds clear of fellow American Taylor Spivey. (Spivey’s Yokohama consistency continued with her eighth-place finish – since 2019 she’s finished third, fourth, eighth, fourth, fourth, ninth and eighth. In fact, the only time she hasn’t finished in the top 10 there was her 25th in 2017, the first year she raced the event.)

Yee Runs His Way to Fifth

Considering that he helped pace two of his countrymen at the London Marathon a few weeks ago, Alex Yee’s return to the WTCS scene was impressive. He was clearly the “best of the rest,” running a blazing 29:08 to move to fifth. In the end he was just 16 seconds from making the podium – think Luke Willian and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn were a bit worried over the last few half-mile of the race?

Yee “rode as hard as I could 295/310w (5.3w/k),” according to a post on Instagram, signalling that he achieved that impressive run time after a decent effort in the first two legs of the race. Considering that it was his first Olympic-distance event in over 18 months, Yee was rightfully pleased with his effort.

Another Win for Lauren Parker in the PTWC Category

Australian Paratriathlete Lauren Parker was paralyzed from the waist down after a training crash in 2017. At the time of the crash she was an age-group triathlete seemingly on her way to a pro career and, within nine months, was competing again on the Para scene. She took silver in Tokyo and won gold in Paris in both the PTWC division and the cycling road race, along with another silver in the time trial. (After finishing second in her age group in Kona in 2015, she returned in 2022 to be the only women’s handcyle finisher.)

Parker easily won her division at the Para event in Yokohama, while Thomas Fruehwirth (AUS) topped the men’s PTWC division. Hungary’s Bence Mocsari won his first World Triathlon Para Series race, besting Australia’s Jack Howell and 2016 and 2020 Paralympic gold medalist Martin Schulz (GER) in the PTS5 division. American Grace Norman took the women’s PTSF category.

Another first-time winner was American McClain Hermes, who won the PTVI race, while Serbia’s Lazar Filipovic won the men’s PTVI category. Americans Mark Barr and Hailey Danz topped the PTS2 division, Anna Plotnikova (AIN) and Great Britain’s Henry Urand won the PTS3 division, while France’s Alexis Hanquinquant and Camille Seneclauze won the PTS4 category.

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