TRIATHLON

Katie Zaferes (USA) zips to first WTS gold at World Triathlon Hamburg, while Mario Mola (ESP) returns to the top of the rankings

By ITU

In the final World Triathlon Series race ahead of the Rio Olympic Games, the men's and women's elite races produced thrilling races that set the scene for unpredictable and phenomenal race in Brazil. Katie Zaferes (USA) earned her first-career WTS gold and Mario Mola (ESP) returned to the top of the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings with his fourth win of the season at the Wasser Hamburg World Triathlon.

Women's Review
Taking on one of the most popular and anticipated World Triathlon Series race of the year, USA’s Katie Zaferes dominated the sprint distance course and claimed her first-career victory at the 2016 Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon. Having finished second in six WTS races last year, Zaferes had failed to make the podium this year until today.

After leading in all three disciplines and leaving enough gas in her tank to conquer the five-kilometre run, Zaferes grabbed the WTS finish tape for the first time in her career. The gold makes her the 18th woman in WTS history to claim a title.

Zaferes said of her debut victory, “I am so excited! The first part, this beginning of the year was not what I wanted. I was not the Katie that I know I am, and today I just raced like me and I got the reward and it was awesome!”

“I just decided to keep it simple, I had been overthinking stuff at the beginning of the year and today I just was going to go as hard as I can in the swim, bike and run and that is what I did and I believed in myself. This is exactly what I needed just going into Rio, is just to see that I was the same person that I was last year.”

Another woman that made it onto the WTS podium for the first time was Rachel Klamer (NED) who seized the silver medal, while the bronze was awarded to pre-race favourite Gwen Jorgensen.

“I am really happy, I can’t describe it. The last couple of years I have made progress and this morning I was talking with Richard (Murray) and I was like ‘one day I want to be on that podium’, thought it probably would not be today, but maybe in a year from now. But when we were racing in the swim, which actually I was most worried about, I felt like I had a good position so just had to keep working on it. And then on the bike, the girls were working together, which was really good and then on the run when I looked back I thought, ‘well today must be that day’.”

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2016 Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon  
750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run

1.   Katie Zaferes                                           USA                   00:57:03
2.   Rachel Klamer                                         NED                   00:57:14
3.   Gwen Jorgensen                                     USA                   00:57:29
4.   Jodie Stimpson                                        GBR                  00:57:52
5.   Anastasia Abrosimova                             RUS                  00:57:58
6.   Barbara Riveros                                       CHI                   00:58:01
7.   Ai Ueda                                                    JPN                   00:58:02
8.   Mari Rabie                                               RSA                   00:58:03
9.   Laura Lindemann                                    GER                   00:58:06
10. Emma Jackson                                        AUS                   00:58:07

View Full Results >>
 
Men's Review
The men left it all down to the finish chute in a flurry of activity that saw Mario Mola (ESP) return to the top of the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings as he won the Wasser Hamburg World Triathlon. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) burst onto the scene with his first World Triathlon Series medal with silver, while Mola’s compatriot Fernando Alarza took home bronze. 

Adding to the excitement Birtwhistle let up ever so slightly in his two final steps thinking he had secured his first World Triathlon Series when Fernando Alarza came flying up his left side. The men crossed so closely together, Technical Officials had to review the photo finish to determine Birthwhistle was indeed the silver medal winner. Although Richard Murray crossed over second, he was later disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Mola said of his victory, “I am very happy with the race, especially since I have had the inconsistencies through the three sports, that is something that I have been working on, sometimes you get the result that you have been aiming for and sometimes you don’t, but today it went very good so I am happy with that.”

Commenting on his close finish, Birtwhistle said, “I thought I did (cross over before Alarza), that is why I did a bit of a first bump at the finish line, but it didn’t take long for me to start second guessing myself, but I guess I was just at the line beforehand. I am really happy with the race today, I planned to come here and have a great race and I was not going to accept anything else. So I am happy to even just make it onto the podium it a pretty good achievement I think.”

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2016 Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon 
750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run

1.   Mario Mola                                             ESP               00:52:19
2.   Jacob Birtwhistle                                    AUS               00:52:36
3.   Fernando Alarza                                    ESP               00:52:36
4.   Joao Pereira                                          POR              00:52:42
5.   Ryan Bailie                                             AUS              00:52:45
6.   Marten Van Riel                                     BEL               00:52:48
7.   Tyler Mislawchuk                                   CAN               00:52:51
8.   Andreas Schilling                                   DEN               00:52:57
9.   Rostislav Pevtsov                                  AZE                00:52:58
10. Jonathan Zipf                                        GER              00:52:59

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