The rain may have poured but it sure didn’t dampen the spirits as WTCS and WTPS Yokohama got the 2022 Series back underway. There were stories galore on and off the course and once again the entertainment came thick and fast on a busy Saturday of racing, so here are just a few of the takeaways, and don’t forget you can watch it all back as it happened over on TriathlonLIVE.tv.
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1. Emma Lombardi is one to watch in 2022
We heard from her on the World Triathlon Podcast after winning the U23 world title in Edmonton, and rising French star Emma Lombardi certainly held her own with WTCS big guns GTB, Duffy and Periault over the 10km run, proving once again that she has the power and speed across all three disciplines to mix it with the best. 
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2. The Antipodeans are BACK
With the Oceania giants able to travel in force once more, we saw a first WTCS podium for Kiwi Hayden Wilde (doesn’t it feel like he already had a couple?) while Aussie Matt Hauser also scored his best-ever finish in the top tier running his way into 4th and Jake Birtwhistle ran a rapid sub 30-minute 10km. 
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3. But so are the French
With two men and two women in the top 5s, Beaugrand going well until her unfortunate bike crash, Bergere now on top of the men’s Maurice Lacroix Rankings, the tricolor are already looking every bit as potent as they were pre-pandemic. 
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4. Beveridge earns a drink
Back on the Aussies, Nic Beveridge flew through the final 5km of the men’s PTWC to out sprint home hero Jumpei Kimura and score his first ever Para Series gold in grand style! 
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5. No luck for Luis
The two-time World Champion Vincent Luis took to social media after the race to explain why he had to pull up on the run as things were clearly not quite going to plan, saying; “Not the day I came for. After 1K of the swim leg I started to have a weird feeling with high heart rate and being out of breath.” - we hope to see him back and fully firing in Leeds. 
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And finally…
We already know the world loves a bit of sportsmanship, but on the final lap and with both chasing gold, that moment between Alex Yee, Hayden Wilde and a water bottle captured the imaginations of sports fans far and wide, and has already been watched well over a million times on World Triathlon TikTok and Instagram. Champs!
