Fanni Szalai made it third time lucky at the Junior World Championship, claiming the title she had narrowly missed in each of the past two years with a commanding performance in Pontevedra.

The Hungarian phenom broke clear during the 750m swim and spent the entire 20km bike leg alone at the front.

European Junior champion Anouk Danna briefly threatened to close her down on the run, but Szalai pulled away again to win in 59:21, 37 seconds ahead of the Swiss athlete. Danna’s compatriot Kimey Casanova took bronze.

In stark contrast, the men’s race saw a thrilling finish as Switzerland’s Thibault Rivier produced a perfectly timed sprint to win, edging Portugal’s Dinis Ferreira by just two seconds.

Here’s how it all played out…

Women’s race – Szalai goes wire to wire

Szalai left little to chance from the start. She completed the swim in 9:35, putting 23 seconds into her nearest rival, Martyna Gajda (POL), and 25 into Carlotta Bülck (GER).

She pressed on alone over the four-lap bike course. A sizeable chase group formed behind her, containing Danna, Bülck, France’s Anouk Rigaud and Britain’s Lauren Mitchell, but Szalai’s advantage had grown to 41 seconds by the third bike timing point.

The chasers made their biggest inroads on the final lap, cutting that margin to 26 seconds. Danna was quickest through T2 and began the 5km run just 24 seconds behind Szalai, with Bülck, Jázmin Kropkó (HUN) and Luca Vanderbruggen (BEL) a further two seconds back.

Danna immediately broke clear of the other chasers and reduced Szalai’s lead to 19 seconds at the first run split. It was the closest the contest would get.

Szalai steadied the gap, then began to stretch it again. She led by 27 seconds at the end of the first run lap and by 33 seconds at the next check before crossing the line 37 seconds clear.

Danna secured silver, while Casanova emerged from the battle behind her to complete a Swiss double on the podium. Spain’s Candela Sánchez Touza came through for fourth ahead of Kropkó, and Mitchell finished 10th for Britain.

Dream come true

Speaking afterwards to World Triathlon’s Doug Gray, Szalai said breaking away in the swim had been her plan from the start. “The main goal was to go away in the swimming,” she said. “I felt really strong this year, so I just tried to push on the bike, and it worked.”

But when she heard that Danna had closed to around 20 seconds on the first run lap, the memory of those two silver medals came back. “I was like, maybe I would take silver again,” Szalai admitted. “But I remembered how much I wanted this. I worked really hard this year and always had this title in my mind during training, through the winter and the whole year.”

The victory meant even more with her father watching in Pontevedra and her family following from home. “I did it for my team and I did it for myself,” she said. “My coaches believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I’m still processing it, but I can finally say I’m happy.”

Men’s race – Down to the wire

Germany’s Henry Haag set the early pace, completing the 750m swim in 8:42. Spain’s Damian Suarez Couto and Jonay Alvarez Almazan followed four and five seconds later, with a gap of more than 20 seconds to the next athlete out of the water.

That advantage disappeared on the bike. Jelle Kaindl (AUT), Caleb Wagener (NZL), Jack Woodberry (AUS), Sebastian Zurob (CHI) and Graham Hummel (USA) joined the swim leaders to form an eight-man group after the first lap. Belgium’s Mats Decoene then bridged across on his own.

The larger chase group continued to close, and by the end of the third bike lap 33 athletes were covered by nine seconds.

Kaindl then gained an early advantage with a swift T2, beginning the 5km run six seconds clear of his nearest pursuers but his lead did not last. Rivier, Ferreira and several others joined him at the front, with seven athletes separated by a second at the first run-lap check. Suarez Couto was also in that group, but he would have to serve a 10-second penalty for a dismount violation.

On the final lap, Kaindl lifted the pace until only Rivier and Ferreira could stay with him. Ferreira struck first in the sprint and Kaindl fell back, but Rivier had saved enough for one last acceleration to snatch gold.

Wagener finished fourth, two seconds behind Kaindl, while Britain’s Reuben Wadey came through for fifth.

Junior World Championships 2026 results

Thursday 24 September 2026 – 750m / 20km / 5km

Women

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Fanni Szalai	HUN	9:35	31:34	16:17	59:21
2	Anouk Danna	SUI	10:16	31:21	16:31	59:58
3	Kimey Casanova	SUI	10:20	31:17	17:09	1:00:39
4	Candela Sánchez Touza	ESP	10:19	31:26	17:17	1:00:54
5	Jázmin Kropkó	HUN	10:16	31:15	17:28	1:00:58
6	Carlotta Bülck	GER	10:00	31:36	17:37	1:01:06
7	Ava Martha Brambier	GER	10:25	31:06	17:42	1:01:14
8	Luca Vanderbruggen	BEL	10:21	31:03	17:50	1:01:20
9	Hannah Pollock	AUS	10:22	31:11	17:49	1:01:27
10	Lauren Mitchell	GBR	10:11	31:27	18:11	1:01:45

Men

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Thibault Rivier	SUI	9:19	28:16	14:48	54:05
2	Dinis Ferreira	POR	9:32	28:07	14:42	54:07
3	Jelle Kaindl	AUT	9:11	28:33	15:08	54:17
4	Caleb Wagener	NZL	9:09	28:29	15:03	54:19
5	Reuben Wadey	GBR	9:20	28:17	14:56	54:20
6	Leni Remer-Mancini	FRA	9:21	28:13	15:14	54:28
7	Christian Ache	GER	9:33	27:59	15:16	54:34
8	Sebastian Zurob	CHI	9:11	28:27	15:18	54:40
9	Sebastian Ziekman	LUX	9:19	28:11	15:16	54:42
10	Brice Allen	USA	9:14	28:28	15:17	54:44