With temperatures reaching 35 degrees in Cozumel, Ben Dijkstra showed no mercy as he stormed to a bronze medal in the ITU Triathlon Junior World Championships, with all Great Britain’s men finishing inside the top 10.
After exiting the swim on Friday evening with eventual gold and silver medallists, Austin Hindman (USA) and Charles Paquet (CAN), Dijkstra became part of a 37-strong bike pack for the duration of the 20km ride, answering to any potential breakaways.
The 2014 Youth Olympic Champion led out of T2 but couldn’t shake of Hindman, who lay down the gauntlet early on; going on to win in 54:02. Pasquet clocked 54:12, with Dijkstra close behind in 54:20.
Dijkstra said, “It sure was challenging; we left everything out there at the finish. I’m so proud I could get this though – Hindman and Paquet just had a little bit extra on the day, and credit to them because I couldn’t have done anything else.
“I know I’ve not been affected too much by the heat before, so I thought if I go out hard then I’ll see who comes with me. I wanted it to be a tough race – that’s how I like to race. There was myself, Sam (Dickinson) and two Norwegians on the bike who took it on and we dragged about 30 others on behind us. I knew if the pace was hard, it would favour the stronger athletes. I’m just glad I could commit to it out of transition and not have completely dead legs.
“I’m over the moon to get a medal. I still have next year too, so I’d like to keep on developing and see what happens.”
2016 ITU Triathlon World Junior Championships RESULTS:
Junior Men
| 1. | Austin Hindman | USA | 00:54:02 |
| 2. | Charles Paquet | CAN | 00:54:12 |
| 3. | Ben Dijkstra | GBR | 00:54:20 |
| 5. | Alex Yee | GBR | 00:54:24 |
| 8. | Samuel Dickinson | GBR | 00:54:38 |
Junior Women
| 1. | Taylor Knibb | USA | 00:59:05 |
| 2. | Lisa Tertsch | GER | 00:59:41 |
| 3. | Hye Rim Jeong | KOR | 00:59:50 |
| 11. | Kate Waugh | GBR | 01:00:35 |
| 17. | Olivia Mathias | GBR | 01:01:15 |
| 45. | Sian Rainsley | GBR | 01:05:26 |
It was Alex Yee however, who undoubtedly showed the greatest comeback of the day. After the first two disciplines, Yee trailed the leaders by well over a minute. But the talented track runner played to his strengths, pulling out a 14:59 run to claw his way back up the field, finishing in fifth (54:24).
Dickinson also put in another top performance, finishing eighth in 54:38.
The Junior Women’s race saw another athlete representing USA on top of the podium, as Taylor Knibb took the title. Britain’s Kate Waugh put in a strong all-round performance to finish just outside the top 10 in 1:00:35.
Olivia Mathias was 40 seconds adrift in 17th place, with Sian Rainsley experiencing technical problems on the bike, pushing her back to 45th place.
For full results, please visit here.
