Triathlon Worlds: An Unexpected Result by Aimee Legault
Quebec Aimee Legault said she was delighted with her 12th place in the final of the World Championships Triathlon Relay, which was held under the scorching sun of Montreal on Saturday.
The Il-Beru native had her sights set on getting into the top 20 before the day started. Although she didn’t escape the ax before the final stage of the final, she was smiling at the end of the Elite Super Sprint event, which she finished in 24 minutes 22 seconds.
“Honestly, it was possible, but I didn’t really expect it, I fired Legault. I had to execute perfectly, and I think I’m still doing really well. There are little things I could have done a little better that would have allowed me to do so.” [me qualifier pour] The last round, but I’m really satisfied.”
Image credit: MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCY
The finals took place in three stages. Of the group of 30 athletes that qualified during the day on Friday, only 20 took part in the second stage and 10 took part in the final race. Saturday’s only other Canadian competitor, Dominika Jamnicki, finished in the first stage, setting the fastest time at 28th.
Legault almost imitated him and saw that his day was ending prematurely. Ranked 25th after the cycling portion, she made up for her running lag to reach stage two, by virtue of being 18th.
The race to the rescue
Her running prowess would also finally allow her to dream of a top 10. However, she considered this part of the triathlon a weakness, until recently.
She continued, “It really shows that my running has become very competitive. Since this year we’ve seen tremendous progress on things. Now that’s my strength, or at least it’s equal to swimming and cycling.”
Britain’s Georgia Taylor Brown climbed to the top of the podium with a time of 24 minutes 4 seconds, while her compatriot Beth Potter took the bronze. French Cassandre Beaugrane took second place.
The second day of competition was very different from the first, which was marred by the whims of Mother Nature. The athletes were forced to participate in a two-race race on Friday, in which the swimming part was disqualified due to heavy showers.
The sun was out on Saturday and many spectators were cheering for her tour as she approached the finish line.
“I really heard the crowd were screaming and I knew the majority of those screams were for me. It gave me a little bit of strength.”
Charles Paquet is happy despite the mistakes
Charles Paquet didn’t have a perfect day in the men’s division of the World Sprint and Triathlon Championships on Saturday in Montreal, but he still lived up to the challenge he set himself.
“I think just getting to the final was the number one goal at the weekend,” he said after finishing the elite final in 19th place. It was a great race. Top 20 is a good thing.
The athlete from Pont-Cartier barely reached the second stage of the final. In a precise position at certain times of the first race, he finally finished 20th and last allowing him to continue his journey.
Although Paquet admitted that the top ten were “very tough” and difficult to get to, he lamented that he had made several technical errors.
“In the first wave, I stopped at the first buoy, he explained. We fell inside, and let’s just say I swallowed a lot of water. After that, the transitions between bike and running were awful. You lose two seconds in a format like this, it’s just too much.”
Participating in two consecutive races comes with its share of complications. Paquet described the waiting period between the first and second stages as “extremely stressful”.
“There are a lot of management and strangers. You don’t know how much time is left and it passes so quickly.”
He was finally crowned Olympic runner-up Alex Yee, as he crossed the finish line for the third stage in 21 minutes 55 seconds. New Zealander Hayden Wilde and France’s Leo Berger completed the podium.
Manitoba’s Tyler Mislawchuk, who has competed in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, had a rough day. He did not survive the first wave of cuts, and scored 25 times faster.
Although his participation has yet to be formalized, Paquet should be part of the mixed relay event, which was presented on Sunday: “I think it’s going to be ‘fun.’ It’s a little less stressful.”
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