World Triathlon

Every year and every single new triathlon season always brings its own set of memorable moments such as exciting performances, close battles on the race course, personal best finishes and emotional triumphs. The 2017 season was no different, from the World Triathlon Series, World Cups, Multisport milestones and Paratriathlon Championships, the whole entire season was one for the record books.

So, what better way to honour an amazing season such as the one of 2017 than to name the Best of the Best!

Over the rest of the month of January we will be naming the “Best of 2017” moments from the year, anything from overall athletes to top race performances to inspirational finishes because when you have a year like we just had, you have to celebrate it!

Today we honour two athletes that had a standout year and showcased some career milestones: Breakout Star!

Male Breakout Star: Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)

Blummenfelt mastered the art of the epic finish - the “didn’t see it coming” ending. And the results he stacked up during the 2017 season speak for themselves, bronze in #WTSYokohama, silver in #WTSMontreal, silver in #WTSStockholm and silver in #WTSRotterdam all adding up to get him on the overall Series podium by finishing third overall in the season. But it’s not just the fact that Blummenfelt collected four race medals in 2017, but it’s also how he did. While he excels in all three disciplines, his strength in his run is what aided in getting him on the podiums. Remember in #WTSYokohama? When he outsprinted Henri Schoeman for the final podium place? Or in the #WTSRotterdam Grand Final, when a group of top elites were running together and it was Blummenfelt who put forth the extra push and sprinted his way to silver. He has been the one to watch over the last couple of years and we expect that only to continue. What’s next for 2018? Maybe his first career WTS win!

Check out his highlights from #WTSRotterdam here

Female Breakout Star: Jessica Learmonth (GBR)

It’s no question that Learmonth dominated the women’s field in the swim in 2017. She was the swim leader four out of the five races she competed in last year and also scored the fastest swim pace of the season in #WTSLeeds. But it’s not just her speed in the water that caused some notice to her strength last season. She also found herself in multiple small lead pack bike groups, including in #WTSStockholm and #WTSRotterdam. Then in the Grand Final being in that bike pack set herself up for a swift run and despite battling cramps and pain, she overcame it all to finish third in the race and take the event bronze medal - her first WTS podium of her career! We predict many more WTS medals in this Brit’s future!