France won the most important Mixed Relay of 2026 as they took the World Championship title and booked automatic Olympics qualification for LA2028.

They were without Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand, who set a new national 3,000m record at the Monaco Diamond League on Friday night, but such is their strength in depth it was no surprise to see them come out on top.

Leonie Periault, Tom Richard, Emma Lombardi and Dorian Coninx were the four who battled to a thrilling victory – with it all coming down to a 1.6km run in the final leg between themselves, Hungary, Britain and the USA.

Hungary had to settle for second after Coninx outsprinted Csongor Lehmann while Oliver Conway gave it absolutely everything to bring home the bronze for Britain, with Morgan Pearson and the USA fourth. Hosts Germany were a distant fifth while defending champions Australia didn’t get beyond the first leg.

Here’s what happened…

Leg A – Shock start for Aussies

It seemed like we had an age before the start signal and there was then drama straight away as one athlete almost went the wrong side of the first line of buoys but ducked back in just in time, colliding into Bianca Seregni (ITA) who had led out the women’s swim yesterday.

Vittoria Lopes (BRA) took it out incredibly quick up front and Seregni was soon on her feet heading under the tunnel for the first time.

For just a 300m swim the two had opened up a big gap by the time they returned to T1.

Márta Kropkó was third for Hungary, Beth Potter fourth for Britain while favourites Germany and France were seventh and ninth respectively.

And there were issues early on for the Netherlands, as Barbara De Koning lost a chunk of time in the swim.

Defending champions Australia also suddenly dropped down the timing boards and the dramatic news soon came through that they were out as world U23 champion Richelle Hill felt unwell. It was heart-breaking for them but Matt Hauser, who anchored them home last year, again showed his class as he wished the other teams all the best before trudging off.

Meanwhile Potter was leading the way on the bike for Britain and heading into T2 there was nothing between the top 15 teams – Belgium, Japan and South Africa were the other three to be distanced in addition to the Netherlands and Australia’s DNF.

On the run – two laps of 800m – and we had yesterday’s winner Leonie Periault for France showing the way, just ahead of Jeanne Lehair (LUX), Lisa Tertsch (GER) and Potter a second or two back.

By the handover point Periault and Tertsch had opened up a small lead on Potter, though just three seconds covered the front three teams. The USA, Luxembourg, Poland and Hungary were all around 10 seconds back and it was 22 seconds and more to the rest.

Leg B – Stapley puts GB in front

Max Stapley (GBR) wasted no time at all in powering past Valentin Wernz (GER) and Tom Richard (FRA) and into the lead early on the swim.

Also going well though was Seth Rider (USA) who got on the feet of the front trio and exited the water just five seconds behind.

When the bike settled down we had a six-man front group – Britain, France, Germany, USA, Hungary and Luxembourg, Stapley again helping drive it with both his legs and his mouth as he kept the others up to their work. That eliminated any chance seventh-placed Poland had of catching them and also kept Portugal via Vasco Vilaca at arm’s length.

The pattern continued into T2 with that sextet now having a 25-seconds advantage on the rest, with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg the three chasers and no one else with a minute.

Rider led the run early before Stapley took over and underlined once again what a force he is in relay racing – handing over in the lead to Jess Fullagar. Richard crossed the line second for France, Rider third for the USA and then there was a nine-seconds gap to hosts Germany.

Leg C – Sensational from Szalai

So Fullagar led the way for Britain but France and the USA were desperate to make sure she didn’t get away alone on the bike as she is one of the strongest around on two wheels.

Exiting the water it was Taylor Spivey in front for the USA ahead of Emma Lombardi (FRA) and Fullagar but the big move had come behind as 18-year-old Fanni Szalai (HUN), fresh from a superb WTCS debut the day before, had closed the gap and moved into fourth.

It was no surprise to see Fullagar drive the bike leg on the front and there was real potential for this quartet to put the race out of reach for the rest.

So no wonder they worked well together and by the time they were back in T2 they had carved out a 34-seconds lead over Franka Rust for Germany, with the rest out of contention barring a miracle.

Going into the run Fullagar had the fresher legs after not racing on Saturday but she was up against three very strong runners.

She was out first after a sharp transition and opened up a small gap but Szalai was soon on her shoulder and they were then joined by Spivey, with Lombardi momentarily gapped.

The Frenchwoman put in a huge effort to tag back on and it all meant that for the final handover they were all back together!

Leg D – Coninx outsprints the rest

The world title – and automatic qualification for the Olympics – was on the line and it was down to Oliver Conway (GBR), Morgan Pearson (USA), Csongor Lehmann (HUN) and Dorian Coninx (FRA) who all produced spectacular dives to kick it all off.

It was Lehmann who was out of the water first, Coninx had a slight slip getting out and then came Conway and Pearson and the four of them not surprisingly rode together early on the bike.

Germany – via Tim Hellwig – were 36 seconds back in fifth and given the run power up front their hopes were all but over.

Coninx did chip away off the front on the bike and there was a little looking around by the other three which was an interesting dynamic – he was six seconds ahead midway through so it was finely balanced.

But on the second lap it did close up and when they reached T2 it was back together – a 1.6km run would decide what had been an absorbing race.

Coninx was sensational through transition and out first with a bit of a gap. Pearson meanwhile struggled to get his shoes on and came out last of the four.

But it was Lehmann who was flying on the first lap and he and Coninx put daylight between themselves and Conway.

However Coninx, the most clinical finisher out there, had the kick that mattered as he sprinted clear in the final 400 metres for a famous win.

Lehmann and Hungary were four seconds back in second, Conway and Britain taking bronze at +13s and he required medical attention at the finish such was the effort. Pearson was left to rue his delay in T2 as the USA took fourth, though they are at least guaranteed qualification for LA2028 as the hosts.

But above all it once again showed what a fantastic spectacle the mixed relay is.

WTCS Hamburg 2026 Mixed Relay Results

Sunday July 12 2023 (Female-Male-Female-Male)
Each leg 300m / 6.6km / 1.6km

Position	Country	Overall time	Gap to winner
1	France	1:18:37	–
2	Hungary	1:18:41	+0:04
3	Great Britain	1:18:50	+0:13
4	United States	1:19:03	+0:26
5	Germany	1:19:55	+1:18
6	Portugal	1:20:19	+1:42
7	Spain	1:20:51	+2:14
8	New Zealand	1:20:57	+2:20
9	Canada	1:21:10	+2:33
10	Poland	1:21:28	+2:51
11	Italy	1:21:32	+2:55
12	Luxembourg	1:21:34	+2:57
13	Switzerland	1:21:56	+3:19
14	Brazil	1:22:43	+4:06
15	Czech Republic	1:24:13	+5:36