The July 12-13 weekend saw athletes battling through slick, rainy conditions in Hamburg, where both the individual men’s and women’s sprint races took place as part of the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS). It also marked the Mixed Relay World Championship, where each country fields a team of two men and two women, each completing a super-sprint triathlon made up of a 300m swim, 6.6km bike, and 1.6km run. So how did the Canadians fare?
Elite Men
Charles Paquet led the way for Canada, coming into the race ranked sixth in the WTCS standings. Despite the sprint format not necessarily playing to his strengths – he noted in a pre-race interview that the “5km run may be not my best distance but we’ll see how it goes” – Paquet delivered a strong performance on a day that also happened to be his birthday. He finished 16th, 1:23 behind race winner Matt Hauser (AUS), and now sits eighth in the overall WTCS rankings.
Tyler Mislawchuk also put together a steady performance, finishing 21st. He maintains his 12th place in the WTCS standings heading into the second half of the season.
Matt Hauser claimed the top spot on the podium, followed by Vasco Vilaca (POR) in second and Alessio Crociani (ITA) in third.
Elite Women
The Canadian women faced a deep and competitive field. Emy Legault was the top Canadian finisher in 31st, followed closely by Desirae Ridenour in 32nd and Sophia Howell in 39th.
“It was a really fun and exciting weekend in Hamburg racing both the individual and relay WTCS,” Howell said post-race. “Overall I wasn’t too happy with my race result in the individual, but it was such a good learning experience with 56 of the best women in the world.”
The race saw a shakeup at the front, with Leonie Periault (FRA) pulling off a strong victory over her more decorated teammate, Olympic and World Champion Cassandre Beaugrand. Great Britain’s Beth Potter continued her podium consistency by finishing third.
Mixed Relay
The highlight of the weekend for Team Canada came in the Mixed Relay, where the quartet of Emy Legault, Tyler Mislawchuk, Sophia Howell, and Charles Paquet combined for a strong 7th place finish out of 21 teams.
The super-sprint format demands flawless transitions and maximum effort, qualities the Canadian squad brought to the fore. “Our team came away with a strong 7th place finish in the relay which was very fun and exciting to be a part of,” Howell said.
Looking Ahead
Next up on the WTCS calendar is the inaugural French Riviera stop at the end of August. With Charles Paquet currently ranked eighth overall and Tyler Mislawchuk not far behind in 12th, Canada finds itself on the verge of something special.
It’s been seven years since a Canadian male finished a WTCS season inside the top 10 – Mislawchuk placed ninth in 2018 – and Paquet’s presence there now is a major milestone. With two Canadians pushing toward potential top 10 finishes, the remainder of the season promises to be one of the most exciting in recent memory for Canadian triathlon.
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