Beth Potter put in a stunning performance to be crowned world champion as she won the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Pontevedra with teammate Kate Waugh securing a British 1-2 with an equally impressive race.
The quartet of Brits in the race was completed by Sophie Coldwell who secured another top-ten spot as she finished 7th and Olivia Mathias returning from injury to finish 32nd.
Mathias was pushing the pace during the swim as she led the British quartet with Sophie Coldwell just behind. Further back Beth Potter was alongside World Championship rival Cassandre Beaugrand in tenth with Waugh sitting in 14th.
Out of the swim and onto the bike, Mathias led a British 1-2 with Coldwell joining her at the front of the field. Potter was paried with Waugh 17 second off their teammates in a chase group.
It did not take long for Potter and Waugh to close up however, joining their compatriots by the midway point of lap one of the bike leg.
As the 15 strong lead group moved through lap two they built a 30 second gap back to the chase group with Beaugrand amongst their group
At the halfway point of the race, Potter had moved into the top-ten for the first time on the bike leg, riding at the front of the lead group.
With the leaders trading positions, the chasing group were closing the gap on the leaders who weren't pushing ahead.
On lap five of eight, Potter and Beaugrand came together on the bike in sixth and seventh with Mathias the lead Brit in fifth. Coldwell, who had led the group for a lot of the opening laps, had settled back into the pack in ninth as did Waugh in 15th.
With one lap left, the chasing group had closed to with 30 seconds of the leaders with the British athletes no longer pulling the group along and opting to settle into the pack ahead of the run.
Heading into T2, Mathias led the way with Waugh in second and Coldwell third as Potter led Beaugrand in tenth. Out of transition though, French triathlete Emma Lombardi led the way as the Brits all swapped around.
Potter moved up to fourth alongside her teammates and, during the opening lap, Waugh and Potter climbed the standings and traded top spot as Coldwell was fifth. Mathias further down the field as she dropped 21 seconds back in 23rd.
The lead trio of Potter, Lombardi and Waugh put a six second gap back to Beaugrand as Coldwell was battling it out with the French star and Jeanne Lehair of Luxembourg for fourth place.
At the halfway stage, Waugh’s strong run performance continued as she remained at the front of the race with Potter, who had one hand on the world title thanks to an 11 second gap back to Beaugrand in second.
On the third lap Lombardi dropped off the pace as Waugh and Potter moved seven seconds clear of the French athlete.
Coldwell’s battle with Beaugrand had come to an end as well, the French athlete knowing she needed a real charge to catch Potter. Mathias was down the field working hard to climb into the top-30 as she dropped to 33rd.
At the start of the last lap, Potter had dropped her teammate by five seconds and she pushed on to extend that gap throughout the lap to take the win and the world championship crown by 18 seconds.
Waugh was the next over the line to secure the silver medal ahead of Beaugrand. Coldwell earnt a top-ten finish as she crossed the line in seventh with Mathias finishing 32nd.
The overall series standings saw Potter crowned 2023 World Champion, with Beaugrand second and Lombardi third.
