The close bond between Georgia Taylor-Brown and Jess Learmonth has been one of the features of a golden summer for British triathlon.
And two months after winning Olympic gold together for Great Britain as part of the Mixed Relay team in Tokyo, they finished first and second in the overall Super League Triathlon standings for 2021.
Learmonth had gone into Saturday’s finale in Malibu at the head of the standings after winning all three races so far – in London, Munich and Jersey.
But her three-point advantage at the top of the leaderboard evaporated as she finished fourth on Saturday while Taylor-Brown claimed the runners-up spot behind Olympic champion and wild card Flora Duffy.
Mixed feelings for Georgia
Afterwards Georgia was happy to have won the title, but admitted that the victory was tinged with sadness.
“The series victory is bittersweet for me as Jess has been so strong and dominant all series. It’s hard as we’re such good friends and to be able to race against her, I don’t know, it’s just hard, I’m happy but I wish we could share the title.”
It has been a rollercoaster series for Georgia, what with that fall from her bike in London and then a catalogue of problems in Jersey last weekend. But she came through it all to claim the title.
Happy ending to a rollercoaster ride
“I think God keeps testing me to be honest and challenging me,” she said.
“Bad things come in threes and I had three things go wrong in Jersey last weekend. But I think a little bit of luck was on my side today.
“I made a lot of mistakes last weekend, I’ve sorted my head out and I’m back in the game. I’m happy to be able to finish today on a high.
“I think my head just wasn’t in it last weekend, I made so many silly mistakes, I just knew had to nail everything today. In Super League it’s all the small things, all about transition. If you get a good transition that can make the race for you.”
