The World Triathlon Cup circuit broke new ground in 2023, with a race held on all five World Triathlon continents in one season for the first time ever across the 14-date feast of action, all beamed live to the planet on TriathlonLive.tv.
That meant Tangier (MAR) and Brasilia (BRA) making their hosting debuts alongside Rome (ITA) and Yeongdo (KOR), all four locations providing scintillating new courses and unique atmospheres on and off the blue carpet.
Add in the return of old favourites like New Plymouth (NZL), Weihai and Chengdu (CHN) to the calendar and longstanding classics Tiszaujvaros (HUN), Karlovy Vary (CZE), Huatulco (MEX), Tongyeong (KOR), Miyazaki (JPN) and Valencia (ESP), it all added up to a classic year on the circuit, rounding out in Vina del Mar (CHI).
There were huge home wins for Miguel Hidalgo, Hayden Wilde and Csongor Lehmann among the standout moments, nail-biting sprint finishes including Gwen Jorgensen versus Rachel Klamer (Karlovy Vary) and Tilda Mansson versus Noelia Juan (Tiszaujvaros), and an emotionally charged Rome victory from Vasco Vilaca in the wake of his Pontevedra world title disappointment.
German athletes scooped more medals than any other nation across the season, with 15 in total shared among nine athletes and including five golds from Nina Eim, Lisa Tertsch, Tim Hellwig (2) and Annika Koch. USA won a total of nine medals (also including five golds from Jorgensen (4) and Morgan Pearson) and Italian and Mexican athletes appeared on no fewer than seven World Cup podiums, Alice Betto with a brilliant Brasilia gold for Italy, Anahi Alvarez Corral and Crisanto Grajales with Mexico’s golds.
Britain’s Hugo Milner (Miyazaki), Brazil’s Manoel Messias (Vina del Mar), Pierre Le Corre of France (Tangier), Takumi Hojo of Japan (Yeongdo) and New Zealand’s Nicole Van Der Kaay (New Plymouth) complete the names of World Cup winners in 2023… so after all of that, here’s a swift breakdown of the men’s and women’s 2023 World Cup season.
Remarkable resurgent Gwen Jorgensen wins four golds
USA legend Gwen Jorgensen’s return to the blue carpet was on everyone’s lips ahead of the first outing of 2023 in New Plymouth, where she finished outside the top 10 but still delivered the third fastest run of the day. From there, it was a near-constant build for the Rio 2016 Olympic Champion.
Her silver in Huatulco suggested that magic was coming, and arrive it did in the form of a trio of back-to-back World Cup wins in Valencia, Karlovy Vary and Tongyeong, before rounding out the year with a second silver, this time in Miyazaki and gold in Vina del Mar, Chile.
In Japan, Jorgensen had finished behind Bianca Seregni, who also topped the podium in Weihai and Chengdu to score an impressive hat trick in 2023 that leaves hers 20th in the Olympic rankings at the end of the year and looking all set for a Paris 2024 debut.
Other multiple women medallists this season were Germany’s Marlene Gomez-Goggel (silver and two bronze) and Nina Eim (gold and silver), Sweden’s Tilda Mansson (gold and bronze), Noelia Juan (two silver) of Spain and Italy’s Ilaria Zane (two bronze).
Tim Hellwig only man to win multiple World Cup golds in 2023
After scoring WTCS Hamburg gold in 2021, Tim Hellwig then endured a tough 2022 before a supremely consistent campaign this year saw the 24-year-old not only taking a pair of World Cup wins in Chengdu and Tongyeong, but also earning a Mixed Relay world title and a place on the German Olympic squad at Paris 2024 with Championship Finals silver.
Another young German talent, Lasse Nygaard Priester, and Mexico’s Aram Michelle Penaflor Moysen scored the most overall medals with a silver and two bronze apiece, while Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo and Spanish newcomer David Cantero del Campo both won a gold and silver this year.
With even more venues set to be added to the calendar for the 2024 season and the final opportunities for Olympic qualification points starting in New Zealand in March, the World Triathlon Cup action is only going to get more exciting over the next 12 months. Tune in to it all on TriathlonLive.tv.
The 2024 World Cup calendar: (as at 22 November 2023)
24-25 February - Napier (NZL) – Sprint
23-24 March - Hong Kong (HKG) - Sprint
30 March - Lievin (FRA) - Indoor
20-21 April - Wollongong (AUS) - Sprint
29 Apr - Chengdu (CHI) - Standard
17-19 May - Samarkand (UZB) – Standard
17-19 May - Huatulco (MEX) – Sprint
6-7 July - Tiszaujvaros (HUN) - Semifinal/Final
7-8 September - Karlovy Vary (CZE) – Standard
21-22 September - Valencia (ESP) – Sprint
27 September - Weihai (CHN) - Standard
5-6 October - Rome (ITA) – Sprint
12-13 October - Tangier (MAR) – Sprint
26-27 October - Brasilia (BRA) – Standard
2-3 November - Vina del Mar (CHI) – Sprint
9-10 November - Miyazaki (JPN) – Sprint