Selina Klamt, Kate Waugh, Emma Lombardi, Emilie Morier, Taylor Knibb. The last five U23 World Champions going back to 2018 will no doubt look on with interest at who becomes the next in line for the title when the women line up at 9am CEST on Thursday 17 October in Torremolinos.
The opening action of the four-day 2024 Championship Finals will see 49 athletes line up for the Olympic-distance challenge on Spain’s south coast. It’s a draining 1500m swim, transitioning to the 8-lap 40km bike with one short climb and then a 10km run to negotiate for whoever wants to see their name alongside the past champions.
The U23 category is invariably a tough one to predict, and you can watch it all unfold on TriathlonLive and the official World Triathlon YouTube channel.
The top-ranked woman is Slovakia’s Zuzana Michalickova, wearing the number one and hoping to assert herself over the opening stage of the swim and set up a big finish. One of the most prolific racers in the past two years as she narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification, a top 10 at last month’s Valencia World Cup suggests the form is as good as the motivation for success.
Part of a grandstand finish last year, Portugal’s Maria Tome will know she has it in her powers to go one better than the silver she won in Pontevedra, and should still be buoyed by her superb 11th place at Paris 2024, where she clocked the 7th fastest run of the day.
Brea Roderick is the top-ranked athlete from Oceania and helped steer New Zealand to bronze in the Jr/U23 Relay World Championships last year. Fourth in 2023 and in her last season at U23 is rising Swiss star Cathia Schar, a fearless racer who already has three Series top 10s and a World Cup podium in Rome last year to her name.
Japan’s Manami Hayashi is on a run of four Asia Cup wins since May but knows how tough it will be to translate that form to the world stage. Netherlands’ Robin Dreijling put together a strong Rome World Cup race to finish with a career-best 8th and compatriot Barbara De Koning will feel due for a big performance on the big stage after something of a breakout year in 2024.
Hungary’s Marta Kropko narrowly missed a World Cup podium in Karlovy Vary and could be one to set the early pace again here as the 21-year-old continues to build towards a promising career at the top level.
The Spanish fans will be loud and proud for their latest talent Maria Casals Mojica, the Junior worlds bronze medallist back in 2021. Last year’s Junior World Champion Ilona Hadhoum (FRA) will be one to watch as her trajectory continues skyward, likewise teammate Candice Denizot, bronze medallist at the Valencia World Cup behind Lisa Tertsch and Olivia Mathias.
Jule Behrens is the woman who won the Junior title in 2021 and training partner of Laura Lindemann, and Lydia Russell leads the line for the USA following her Americas Cup triumph in Edmonton two months ago.
A strong Mexican contingent includes Sofia Rodriguez Moreno and Anahi Alvarez Corral, the Continental Champion at U23 last year on a run that included World Cup gold in Huatulco and an athlete who will hoover up the 10km run if she is in contention off the bike.
For the full start list, click here.
