We Noticed: Takeaways from Challenge Wanaka, Entry lists for Taupo and Gold Coast and More

For those of us who have been in the sport for a while (OK, so in my case since the dark ages), it’s hard to believe that Challenge Wānaka celebrated it’s 20th anniversary on the weekend. It was the first event to join Challenge Roth in what would eventually become the Challenge Family race series. There were 85 competitors in the first edition in 2007, but now, 20 years along, the event enjoyed a whopping “3,100 competitors across the 2026 festival,” according to race organizers.

“The 2026 Gallagher Insurance Challenge Wānaka Festival of Triathlon has been a huge success,” said event director Jan Sharman. “It’s been incredibly special to reflect on 20 years of Challenge Wānaka and how it’s grown from humble beginnings in 2007 to what it is today. It’s more than a race, it’s where community, adventure and personal achievement meet.” 

The race features an incredibly scenic course, and often attracts a competitive pro field (who aren’t likely to spend much time taking in the scenery on race day, but no doubt enjoy things pre- and post-race!). The day featured a chilly start, with the air temperature at 10 degrees C (50 degrees Fahrenheit), and choppy water conditions.

Canadian Tamara Jewett took the women’s title in dramatic fashion, trailing New Zealand’s Rebecca Clarke through most of the race. The Kiwi led out of the water and into T2, with countrywoman Danielle Donaldson and American Gabrielle Lumkes close behind, with Jewett starting the run in fifth place. Setting a new run course record (1:21:26), Jewett managed to overtake both Lumkes and Clarke to reach the finish line in 4:29:39. Clarke (4:30:43) managed to hold off Lumles (4:30:46) by just three seconds.

“I’ve been sick all week, so when I came off the bike I was around fifth place and really thought the podium was out of sight,” Jewett said after the race. “I was not feeling great, I was gritting my teeth and getting through it. The course is gorgeous, one of the most beautiful run courses I’ve ever been on. None of it is fast, with punchy hills and chip seal and gravel. Being able to build momentum was a great confidence boost, I’m proud I just kept working it.”

Kiwi Jack Moody managed to defend his title after being pressed early by countrymen Ivan Abele and Robert Huisman, with the 22-year-old Abele managing to hold off super-cyclists Mike Phillips (NZL) and Frederic Funk (GER) into T2, with Moody hitting T2 in fourth.

There was no touching Moody on the run, though, as he cruised to the win in 3:51:23, with Phillips (3:54:11) holding off Funk (3:54:37).

“It’s pretty special to get a win here again – it’s never easy,” Moody said after the race. “The swim was slower than expected, it was just cold. The bike course was pretty honest. I was surprised I was able to stay in touch with a few of the powerhouses. When I started the run I knew I’d ridden a bit too hard, it took me about a lap to find my feet. I was very happy to get the win.”

IRONMAN Pro Series Kicks Off at IRONMAN New Zealand

March 7 will see one of the most competitive fields line up for the second-oldest IRONMAN race in Taupo. As we reported in our chat with the Norwegian stars Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden and Casper Stornes on the weekend (see below), both Blummenfelt and fellow IRONMAN Pro Series champ Kat Matthews (GBR) will be highlighting the field.

Matthews will take on defending champ Regan Hollioake (AUS) and Kiwi star Hannah Berry, along with two-time New Zealand champ Jocelyn McCauley. Challenge Wānaka winner Tamara Jewett will also toe the line. Here’s the full women’s start list:

Blummenfelt will also be facing the defending champion in Mike Phillips, with the likes of Rasmus Svenningson (SWE) and Americans Trevor Foley and Matt Hanson joining the fun.

One athlete who will be interesting to watch in Taupo is France’s Pierre Le Corre, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics and is making his full-distance debut. Le Corre has some long-distance chops, having won the 2022 World Triathlon Long Distance Championships in Samorin, Slovakia, albeit over a much shorter 2 km/ 80 km/ 18 km distance.

Here’s the full pro men’s start list:

T100 Gold Coast Start List

It certainly looks like things will start with a bang down under for the first race of the T100 Triathlon World Tour. The start list includes pretty much all the main players from last year’s series, including defending T100 world champ Kate Waugh, Julie Derron and Taylor Knibb. Absent due to her recent surgery will be Lucy Charles-Barclay, while it looks like Kat Matthews will take a pass as well as she no-doubt focusses on both the IRONMAN Pro Series and her continued search for the top step on the podium at the IRONMAN World Championship.

With the new T100 system no longer including athlete contracts, athletes are offered starting slots based on: “the top-10 athletes in the 2025 T100 Standings; the top-5 athletes in the 2025 T100 Contender Rankings; additional Contender Rankings athletes (in order) if any T100 Top-10 athletes decline their spots; 2 discretionary Wildcard athletes.”

The list posted on the Professional Triathletes Organisation site includes a few more wildcards, including Imogen Simmonds, who returned to racing after agreeing to a “no fault finding” after testing positive for ligandrol metabolites at the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final, where she finished 17th, is on the list as a wildcard competitor.

Klæbo Makes History With Sixth Gold

We reported on Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s quest to make Olympic history last week, predicting that the Norwegian star was very likely to take a sixth cross-country skiing gold medal in the 50-km mass start event, and he came through in style with a dramatic sprint to the line, leading a Norwegian sweep of the podium in the process. During the Milano-Cortina Games in addition to Saturday’s 50-km race, he won the 20 km Skiathlon, the 10 km Freestyle, the Sprint Classic, the 4 x 7.5 km Relay and the Team Sprint.

He’s now the first athlete to win six gold medals at the same Winter Olympics and is now the most decorated winter Olympian with 11 gold medals.

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