The women’s race at the World Cross Triathlon Championships proved to be one of the brightest spots of an otherwise overcast morning in Townsville, Australia. After Michele Bonacina earned the men’s title, Marta Menditto (ITA) was on hand to match the achievement of her compatriot. The 2023 European champion used a fantastic bike split to seize control of the race and from there she did not look back.
Samantha Kingsford (NZL) and Maeve Kennedy (AUS) were the first to complete the 1km sea swim and they could hardly have tamed the waves better had they been armed with Poseidon’s trident. Menditto lost 50 seconds to Kingsford in the water and had an uphill task – both figuratively and literally – heading onto the bike.
“On the swim it was like being in a washing machine,” said Menditto. “I used my technical skills on the bike to catch the girls in front of me and I tried to get a gap at the end of the bike.”
Her field-leading split of 56:16, the quickest by 44 seconds, was enough to vault into the lead. Close behind her, though, was Romy Spoelder (NED). In addition, Kennedy remained in contention ahead of a string of women also battling to stay in the mix. After the race Kennedy noted, “At one point I think I had five girls behind me and slowly a few dropped off. Then it was three of us pushing all the way to the finish line and we could see each other on every corner, off every straight, and it was full on from start to finish.”
Fortunately, the elite women were also spared the shock experienced by the technical delegate guiding the leading age-groupers on the same course when a snake fell from the trees onto their bike.
Out of T2, Menditto maintained her lead over Spoelder and Kennedy. Spoelder then had the quicker run time over the 6km albeit by a slender margin of 3 seconds. Menditto therefore held on to secure her world title while her Dutch rival took 2nd place. There was double delight for Spoelder as she also added the World U23 title to her haul too.
When asked about the race and the tense finish, Spoelder said, “I really enjoyed it. I liked the course a lot, it was a really fun race. It was a bit of a battle on the run for 2nd and 3rd place and on the second lap of the run I thought ‘I just need to be as much in front on the beach and we will see’.”
Kennedy then secured the bronze medal, her first from three international appearances. Australia could also celebrate Ash Watts (AUS) winning the World Junior Cross Triathlon title at the start of the day.
Stay tuned for the next batch of racing in Townsville as the off-road action continues with the cross duathlon events on Wednesday. You can discover all you need to know across all World Triathlon channels.
