It wasn’t quite in the script, but there was still an almighty story to be told in London as Cassandre Beaugrand of France blew away the field to win Arena Games Triathlon gold on Saturday. The Brits received a loud welcome from the packed Olympic Aquatics Centre but couldn’t get close after the debutant’s stunning second-stage effort, Munich winner Beth Potter having to settle for the silver and Jessica Learmonth the bronze.
Learmonth and Potter had both won their morning heats comfortably, though Beaugrand looked in the flow too to finish her’s in second. There would be no room for any let up across the three afternoon stages in pursuit of the gold, though, and it was the French star who didn’t make a single mistake all day.
Swimming into an early lead, she was soon caught and passed by Potter and Learmonth on the bike. Learmonth then lost ground with a poor transition, and it was Beaugrand who showed incredible prowess on the run to fly to a 2m45s first kilometre and take the first stage in a fashion usually reserved for her nearest opponent.
Georgia Taylor-Brown had struggled to keep pace with that trio, Audrey Merle and Sian Rainsley battling for fifth as Petra Kurikova, Kate Waugh, Anabel Knoll and Zsanett Bragmayer drifted out of contention.
Taylor-Brown was able to make up some ground on her teammates over the opening run of the reversed stage two, but Beaugrand was still simply pulling away from everyone, clearly mastering the curved treadmill and finding the rhythm to again earn daylight out front - over 14 seconds of it to Potter by the time she headed to the bike.
Learmonth and Taylor-Brown were closing in on Potter across the virtual Crit City ride and back into the pool it was Learmonth closing in on second place trying to reduce the pursuit-start deficit.
As a result, Beaugrand then took a 17-second advantage into the final stage, and there was simply no catching her across the three disciplines. Only 5 seconds separated Potter, Learmonth and Taylor-Brown heading back into the pool, but the order never really looked like shuffling as those gaps between them grew. It was Cassandre Beaugrand who took the win in grand style, extending the gap over Beth Potter in second, Jess Learmonth with bronze.
The silver, to go with her Munich gold, puts Potter in pole position to become the first ever triathlon Esport world champion going into the decisive final race in Singapore, but Beaugrand’s display will undoubtedly have shifted the Arena Games sands. There’s just two weeks to wait until that historic prize is awarded.
Full results can be found here.
