An emotional Vicky Holland bowed out after 19 years at the top in pro triathlon with a brilliant fourth place in the WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos.
The two-time Olympian became the first British woman ever to win an Olympic triathlon medal when she secured bronze at Rio 2016 and then two years later she was crowned world champion.
She returned to the sport late last year following the birth of her first child and it had already been a memorable 2024 season thanks to victory in the Europe Triathlon Championships in Vichy, France.
But the 38-year-old put another flourish on it with a fantastic display on Andalucia on Saturday. She was in the mix from the outset, making it into the 12-woman front bike group and then running through the field on the run to take fourth behind the one-two-three on both the day and the season as a whole – Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand, Beth Potter and Emma Lombardi.
Perfect way to sign off
And speaking afterwards to both World Triathlon and British Triathlon, she said: “I always said I wanted to come back to a similar level that I was at before having my baby, which was roughly in the top 10.
“So I am absolutely delighted with that, it is better than I could have imagined and that for me is better than where I was at the end of 2021.
“I just hope that gives anybody who’s maybe got any inclination they want to go away and have a baby but maybe they’re not sure what it might do to their career, that with the right support and the right mentality and with a lot of hard work, you can do it.
“And that for me is everything – that was my biggest goal for this year and that is just the perfect way to end it.”
Praise for peerless Beaugrand
Talking through how the day panned out, Holland added: “Back with the big girls for one last time and I’m just so happy with the whole race – my swim’s been up and down this year and sometimes I haven’t quite had it on the bike. But I felt really good in that lead group – I was pulling some turns and I think this kind of course suits me, I really like the cornering and stuff. And then to put together a solid run off the back of it rounded it off.”
The only hiccup came when a slow T2 saw Holland start the run at the back of the front group in 12th place, but she explained: “I like to think I’m quite good at transitions, but today was not the case. I went to put my bike in the rack and it fell over straight away, and I wasn’t sure whether that constituted enough of an effort for me not to get a penalty if I didn’t try again.
“So I had to fiddle with my bike a bit and came out quite a way out the back. But I actually don’t think it made a difference in the end.
Those top, top girls were just so fast on the run that I don’t think I would have caught them.
The post-race celebrations were delayed for over an hour following a British Triathlon Federation protest around potential outside assistance for winner Beaugrand after she went off course in the swim.
But the result stood and Holland was full of respect for the French star, pointing out: “She’s been the best athlete across the board this year.
“She’s been the Olympic champion, she’s won multiple World Series races. And you’re hard pressed to suggest that she shouldn’t be world champion at the end of it. She’s been incredible.”
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