Britain’s Kate Waugh finished the T100 season as she began it – with a victory. And her success in the Grand Final in Qatar gave her the overall crown as she became World Champion for the first time.
Beforehand the title was between Waugh, fellow Brit Lucy Charles-Barclay and Switzerland’s Julie Derron and all three were right in contention midway through the run but Waugh was always a step ahead.
She was brilliant at both transitions which saw her lead the way and she held strong on the run – albeit the incredible effort and conditions told as she collapsed straight after the finish line with stomach issues.
Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) took second after a superb run, just 21 seconds behind, for her best T100 result to date, with Derron 1:01 back in third, Ellie Salthouse (AUS) was fourth and Charles-Barclay fifth.
All of which meant Waugh took the title ahead of Derron and LCB and here’s how an absorbing race played out…
Swim – Company for Charles-Barclay
The breeze had started to get up ahead of the 2km swim and whether it was that or currents in the bay area, it was noticeably tougher coming back on each of the two clockwise laps in the Arabian Gulf, with the Lusail Towers a spectacular backdrop.
It was no surprise at all to see recently-crowned 70.3 World Champion Charles-Barclay lead the way early on, with Jess Learmonth (GBR) in second and Sara Perez Sala (ESP) third.
Of LCB’s main rivals for the title, Waugh was fourth, six seconds behind, when they reached the Aussie exit at the end of the first loop, with Derron having to work hard in 12th and already with 35 seconds to make up.
Onto lap two and Charles-Barclay was in the unaccustomed position of having company in the water, with Learmonth and Waugh right in the mix and Taylor Spivey (USA) not far behind.
However Lucy was out of the water just in front in a time of 26:25, with Learmonth, Spivey and Waugh all within four seconds but that changed on the run to T1 as Waugh went from fourth to first.
Holly Lawrence, Taylor-Brown and India Lee came next, meaning that six Brits were in the top seven – Spain’s Perez Sala being the exception.
Spivey had dropped back to eighth through transition, with Derron starting the bike at +1:24, though she potentially had uber-biker Paula Findlay (CAN) to latch onto.
And in 19th and 20th and virtually alongside each other were two women who were bravely back racing after devastating personal heartbreak – Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) and Lucy Byram (GBR).
Byram’s partner Sam O’Shea passed away after a tragic accident while riding his bike not long after French Riviera T100, while Gentle announced last week that she had suffered a recent miscarriage.
Bike – Derron stays in touch as Waugh leads
Waugh continued the positive momentum early on the bike and she and Learmonth quickly put daylight between themselves and the rest on the first of six 13.3km laps.
They were over 20 seconds ahead of Charles-Barclay in third and LCB had an added challenge when she lost a bottle. However she then moved clear of the chase pack and by the end of the first lap she had narrowed the deficit to 18 seconds on the front two.
Derron though was moving in the other direction, already two minutes back by this point.
On lap two Charles-Barclay had bridged up to the front two and the front trio would then swap places for pretty much the rest of the bike leg.
There was nearly drama on lap four when both Charles-Barclay and Waugh ejected bottles perilously close to the end of the allowed litter zone but thankfully no penalties were going to spoil this title showdown.
By now it was an all-British top five, with Lee and Taylor-Brown in fourth and fifth around a minute down – and it would soon become a top six as Holly Lawrence moved to within 30 seconds of that pair.
On the final couple of laps Waugh appeared to be desperate to pick up water or nutrition at the aid stations, slowing right down on one occasion to make sure she got it and that resulted in her starting the final lap 18 seconds adrift.
There was a bell this time to try and ensure there was no repeat of the lap-counting confusion which blighted the men’s race in Dubai and the status quo remained until late on when Waugh, who had bridged up to LCB and Learmonth, pounced past them to make sure she was first into T2.
Derron too made late ground to cut the gap on her two title rivals to less than two minutes and with her famed run speed it meant the grandstand finish we were hoping for appeared to be playing out.
Lee and Taylor-Brown remained fourth and fifth at just over a minute back, with Derron sixth at +1:44 and Byram – who made up more places than anyone with a quickest-of-the-day bike – was up to seventh from 19th at +1:54.
Run – Late drama as Waugh holds on but throws up
Just as she had at T1, there was a rapid transition from Waugh which suddenly gave her a bit of a buffer starting the run.
For all her water bottle challenges on the bike we know she thrives in the heat based on her record-breaking win in Singapore at the start of the T100 season and by the end of the first of six run laps she had pushed her advantage over Charles-Barclay to nearly 30 seconds, with Derron up to fifth but barely having cut the gap. In between were Learmonth and GTB in third and fourth respectively.
Lap two saw the gap between Waugh and LCB balloon to nearly a minute – but Derron was now charging and flew past first Learmonth and then onto the shoulder of Taylor-Brown in third, with 1:38 to make up on Waugh at the head of affairs.
And soon after it couldn’t have been set up better – our three leaders in first, second and third, with Waugh holding firm up front, LCB at +1:22 and Derron still at around the +1:39 mark.
But at the aid station just before the end of lap three – the halfway point in the run – both Derron and Taylor-Brown jumped past Charles-Barclay.
Both of them looked smooth and quickly moved well clear of LCB but the big question was whether Derron could cut the gap on Waugh.
That just wasn’t happening though as Waugh was holding strong up front and beginning the sixth and final 3km lap she still had a buffer of 1:12 on Taylor-Brown and 1:25 on Derron so barring any late mishaps the title was surely going her way.
But it was a good job the line came when it did as we saw a fair proportion of Waugh’s nutrition thrown up soon after she broke the tape, underlining the effort required to claim the biggest win of her career.
Waugh stopped the clock in 3:31:30, Taylor-Brown was a superb second to move into the top 10 of the overall standings, and Derron third as she finished runner-up in the series.
Salthouse was fourth, Charles-Barclay fifth and special mention for Gentle in sixth after what she has been through in the last week.
Thankfully Waugh recovered quickly enough to chat to Jan Frodeno soon after on the live broadcast and she said: “I’m completely overwhelmed with emotion right now. I’ve always been a bit of a drama queen – I don’t want to see those finish line photos!”
Qatar T100 results – Pro women
Friday December 12, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km
| Position | Athlete | To Leader | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Waugh (GBR) | – | 26:28 | 01:55:37 | 01:07:13 | 03:31:30 |
| 2 | Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) | +00:21 | 26:35 | 01:56:31 | 01:06:16 | 03:31:50 |
| 3 | Julie Derron (SUI) | +01:02 | 27:43 | 01:55:58 | 01:06:30 | 03:32:31 |
| 4 | Ellie Salthouse (AUS) | +03:22 | 27:33 | 01:56:04 | 01:08:12 | 03:34:51 |
| 5 | Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) | +03:38 | 26:25 | 01:55:28 | 01:10:35 | 03:35:08 |
| 6 | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) | +04:01 | 29:13 | 01:58:22 | 01:05:21 | 03:35:30 |
| 7 | Holly Lawrence (GBR) | +04:58 | 26:31 | 01:57:28 | 01:09:53 | 03:36:27 |
| 8 | Jess Learmonth (GBR) | +05:17 | 26:27 | 01:55:31 | 01:12:11 | 03:36:46 |
| 9 | Sara Pérez Sala (ESP) | +05:44 | 26:32 | 01:57:48 | 01:10:18 | 03:37:14 |
| 10 | Caroline Pohle (GER) | +05:50 | 27:43 | 01:55:55 | 01:10:54 | 03:37:19 |
Overall standings and prize money
| Position | Athlete | Regular-season races* | Qatar points* | Total | Prize money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Waugh (GBR) | 6 | 55 | 183 | $200,000 |
| 2 | Julie Derron (SUI) | 5 | 41 | 163 | $170,000 |
| 3 | Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) | 4 | 33 | 152 | $150,000 |
| 4 | Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) | 7 | 30 | 137 | $120,000 |
| 5 | Jess Learmonth (GBR) | 7 | 24 | 120 | $110,000 |
| 6 | Ellie Salthouse (AUS) | 4 | 37 | 97 | $90,000 |
| 7 | Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) | 3 | 46 | 90 | $85,000 |
| 8 | Taylor Knibb (USA) | 3 | 0 | 90 | $80,000 |
| 9 | Lucy Byram (GBR) | 5 | 16 | 89 | $75,000 |
| 10 | Holly Lawrence (GBR) | 4 | 27 | 85 | $70,000 |
