Great Britain’s Ollie Conway made a statement start to the year when he began the 2026 campaign as he finished 2025 – with an eyecatching victory.

The 20-year-old crowned a brilliant breakthrough season with a dominant display to become World U23 Champion in Wollongong.

And his first race since was at the World Triathlon Cup Haikou in China where he powered to a thrilling success in the men’s race while Diana Isakova (AIN) claimed the women’s title.

Men’s race – Conway pounces late on the run

We spoke to Conway before this race towards the end of a productive GB training camp in Australia but it remained to be seen where his form was ahead of his seasonal debut.

He was up against last week’s World Cup Lanzarote winner David Cantero (ESP), the man who had preceded him as World U23 champ.

And in what was a sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run) contest, the race really came to life on the bike.

That was when Germany’s Tim Hellwig drove a breakaway which saw 16 men initially pull clear of the rest – and among those having to chase were arguably the two quickest runners, Cantero and Britain’s Hugo Milner.

But there was strong British representation in the front group – Conway, Michael Gar and Brandon Pye – and they had opened up a gap of just over 20 seconds on the chasers, leaving things tantalisingly balanced with Cantero and Milner still to play their strongest card.

Heading onto the run it was Gar who led the way only for a surge from Conway on the second 2.5km lap which completely changed the complexion of the race.

It took him to the front, closely followed by Hellwig – and then Milner made up plenty of ground to get on their shoulders, while all the time Cantero was getting closer.

But the front three were all moving well and in sight of the blue carpet it was Hellwig who went for home first before a sprint from Conway settled the race in a matter of strides as Hellwig finished runner-up for the second weekend in succession.

Milner in particular put a difficult 2025 behind him as he clocked a 13:51 5km to round out the podium in third, with Cantero next best in terms of run times with a 14:04 for fourth.

Women’s race – Isakova win a thriller

The women’s race played out in similar style and it was another Brit, Liv Mathias, who led out the swim.

Onto the bike and a pack of 18 women went clear, including the top-ranked Isakova.

But by the time we reached T2 the gap to the chasing pack looked insurmountable at over a minute.

That was how it proved but there was still plenty of drama to come as Isakova, Australia’s Sophie Malowiecki, Brits Sian Rainsley and Mathias, Desirae Ridenour (CAN) and Xinyu Lin (CHN) settled down to battle it out.

And it was Isakova who just proved strongest, by a single second from Malowiecki, with Rainsley in third.

World Triathlon Cup Haikou results

MEN

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Oliver Conway	GBR	00:08:58	00:26:37	00:14:15	00:51:00
2	Tim Hellwig	GER	00:08:53	00:26:42	00:14:15	00:51:02
3	Hugo Milner	GBR	00:09:06	00:26:55	00:13:51	00:51:05
4	David Cantero	ESP	00:09:06	00:26:57	00:14:04	00:51:14
5	Brandon Pye	GBR	00:08:56	00:26:39	00:14:29	00:51:15

WOMEN

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Diana Isakova	AIN	00:09:47	00:30:23	00:16:11	00:57:41
2	Sophie Malowiecki	AUS	00:09:50	00:30:19	00:16:15	00:57:42
3	Sian Rainsley	GBR	00:09:40	00:30:34	00:16:19	00:57:46
4	Desirae Ridenour	CAN	00:09:45	00:30:29	00:16:34	00:58:02
5	Xinyu Lin	CHN	00:09:44	00:30:27	00:16:37	00:58:06