With the Supertri E World Triathlon Championship commencing in the London Aquatic Centre a few weeks back, the tri-athlete’s competed ahead of their participation in the Paris Olympics this summer.
The USA’s Chase McQueen redeemed himself with victory after his nightmate collapse in 2023. The 26-year-old pinned home favourite Max Stapley and complete his redemption story.
“It feels amazing. I can’t even put into words to be honest. After what happened last year, I’ve been thinking about this moment for 12 months,” McQueen said smiling.
“My coach kept telling me to focus on myself, I have what it takes to be competitive. I trust the people around me, and it paid off.
“I wanted to get off to a good start to give me some confidence. I started to fade pretty hard in the last round, but I pulled myself together.”
Ahead of the Paris Olympics which starts on July 26th, McQueen is feeling raring and ready to go.
“I’ve always said that supertri gives you a good base line, I’ll take away the fact I’m in good shape. Hopefully this is just the beginning.”
Partcipating in his home event, Stapley didn’t feel to disheartened at just falling short of the gold medal and is working hard to make it to Paris.
“Brilliant. You can’t complain about being a runner up in a world championship. I’d like to thank everyone who came out,” Stapley said.
“I’m trying to make the team, i’ll see if that’s an opportunity and I’ll race every race I can and give 100%.
“It was all business for Chase today so congrats to him.”
In the women’s event, Beth Potter was crowned champion once again after having won the Esports worlds in 2022. With another win, Potter made a big statement with her victory.
“I’ve probably done more outdoor riding than I have indoor. Still got a bit more training to do but it’s all going in the right direction at the moment.”
Supertri regular Katie Zafares secured a bronze medal as the 34-year-old from Maryland was exhausted.
“Very proud, very tired!,”she said still catching her breath.
“I felt like they kept going further ahead and I was going further behind. I was trying to stay focused on myself. At one point I was in no man’s land!”
With the majority of the triathlon events taking place in the River Seine there has been plenty of controversy surrounding the safety of the water. Potter and Zafares both have faith in the commitee to pull through.
“They’re doing everything they can to clean it up and there’s been a bit of rainfall so that’s probably why the water quality isn’t as good. We have the same in England so I’m not too worried about it at the moment,” Potter said.
“I don’t really know. If your doing races in the cities you’re not going to have pristine waters. I trust in the organisation that it will be safe like it was last year,” Zafares said optimistcally.
