More ‘scores on the doors’ in terms of British Age-Group medals. Following on from Saturday’s Sprint distance event, the Europe Triathlon Championships Valencia saw the Standard distance races take place on Sunday.
The 409 athletes racing in the Standard distance event represented 19 different nations. As with the Sprint distance event, Team GB led the way in terms of numbers with 161 athletes, ahead of 132 from Spain.
The team earned a total of 33 medals from the total of 70 awarded, including 16 of the 26 gold medals – with two athletes completing a golden double.
Top Brits in Spain
British athletes dominated at the top of the overall standings over the Standard distance, with seven of the top eight women overall and the top three quickest men.
Rosie Weston continued her fine 2021 season (winner at IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth, third at Outlaw Half Nottingham and Elite winner at Outlaw Half Holkham), by finishing almost two minutes clear of Hayley Rigby. Rosie will step up to the Pro division for 2022.
For the men, another familiar name (and still getting faster well into his 40s) is Donald Brooks, who was also the best part of two minutes quicker than William Grace. He’ll be racing in the M45-49 division next season and remains one of the most consistent and top performing age-group athletes in the country.
Fastest Age-Group athletes overall
FEMALE
1st – Rosie Weston (GBR) – 2:06:09 (20-24)
2nd – Hayley Rigby (GBR) – 2:08:00 (30-34)
3rd – Francesca Smith (GBR) – 2:11:39 (25-29)
4th – Jennifer Clark (GBR) – 2:11:49 (30-34)
5th – Wendy Bru (FRA) – 2:13:24 (20-24)
MALE
1st – Donald Brooks (GBR) – 1:54:53 (40-44)
2nd – William Grace (GBR) – 1:56:34 (25-29)
3rd – James Kessell (GBR) – 1:58:32 (25-29)
4th – Lukas Prokopavicius (LTU) – 1:59:25 (20-24)
5th – Joris Aerden (BEL) – 1:59:30 (25-29)
Double success for Mogull and Goodwin
Why win one gold when you can win two? That was seemingly the approach of Rebecca Goodwin (35-39) and Kerstin Mogull (60-64), who after winning over the Sprint distance on Saturday returned the next day to repeat the feat over double the distance in Spain.
(Kerstin Mogull, double gold winner (60-64) – thanks to Mark Phillips for the images)
Europe Triathlon Championships Valencia – Sunday 26 September 2021
AGE-GROUP STANDARD: 1.5km / 40km / 10km
BRITISH AGE-GROUP MEDALS (33)
GOLD (16)
- Rosie Weston 20-24 – Female AG
- Francesca Smith 25-29 – Female AG
- William Grace 25-29 – Male AG
- Hayley Rigby 30-34 – Female AG
- Mateusz Kolodziej 30-34 – Male AG
- Rebecca Goodwin 35-39 – Female AG
- Anel Meyer 40-44 – Female AG
- Donald Brooks 40-44 – Male AG
- Nici Cahusac 45-49 – Female AG
- Jayne Baldwin 55-59 – Female AG
- Kerstin Mogull 60-64 – Female AG
- Terry Johnson 60-64 – Male AG
- Linda Russell-Bond 65-69 – Female AG
- Mary White 70-74 – Female AG
- Don Hutchinson 75-79 – Male AG
- Selwyn Parker 80-84 – Male AG
SILVER (10)
- James Kessell 25-29 – Male AG
- Jennifer Clark 30-34 – Female AG
- Nicola Lilley 40-44 – Female AG
- Louise Croxson 45-49 – Female AG
- Simon Peltenburg 45-49 – Male AG
- Tracey Greenway 55-59 – Female AG
- Simon Taylor 55-59 – Male AG
- Deborah Lloyd 60-64 – Female AG
- Lynda Chase 65-69 – Female AG
- David Davidson 70-74 – Male AG
BRONZE (7)
- Isabelle Rayner 20-24 – Female AG
- Victoria Alikhan 30-34 – Female AG
- William Holloway 30-34 – Male AG
- Candice Heys 40-44 – Female AG
- James Redman 45-49 – Male AG
- Karen Murphy 50-54 – Female AG
- Neil Hunter 60-64 – Male AG
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
