Beth Potter secured Arena Games Triathlon London gold as a sold-out London Aquatics Centre also saw Finley Jakes, Louis Rolfe MBE and Colin Wallace win paratriathlon gold.
After bronze for Jack Stanton-Stock in Montreal and silver for Olivia Mathias in Sursee, Potter made it three British medals across this year’s three-race Arena Games Triathlon powered by Zwift series.
London hosted the final event where the 2023 esports world triathlon champions were crowned, 12 months after Potter and Alex Yee won the inaugural esports triathlon world titles.
The British athletes gave the home crowd plenty to cheer during the unique format which blends real-life and virtual reality. Athletes swim in the pool before switching to smart trainers and self-powered curved treadmills for the bike and run legs on Zwift’s online platform.
Potter was first to finish the first stage of the three-stage women's final, ending stage one 10 seconds ahead of Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) in second, with Mathias eighth after the first swim, bike, run, having led the race early on the bike.
Stage two saw the order switch to run, bike, swim and again Potter and Beaugrand, who was last year’s London winner, established themselves as the front two.
Potter kept the gap to Beaugrand to only a couple of seconds heading off the bike and, after another quick transition by Potter, last year’s gold and silver medallists dived into the pool side-by-side as they started the 200m swim.
After the four lengths of the pool, Beaugrand was first to finish stage two, but Potter wasn’t far behind and had a seven second advantage starting the final pursuit stage.
Potter exited the swim a few seconds ahead of Beaugrand and would bike and run to glory, lifting her arms aloft in the final metres as she claimed her third Arena Games Triathlon win by 22 seconds ahead of Beaugrand.
“This format is always really hard, but I’m really happy,” Potter said. “I knew she [Beaugrand] was the one to beat but I actually thought she had the better of me, I knew I had to pull hard from the very start.
“When I’m going to races it’s making sure I’m on the podium if not winning them and I’ve been working hard on the mental side and believing in myself.”
Double points were available in London and were combined with each athlete’s best score from across the two previous events to decide this year’s world titles which were won by Sophie Linn (AUS) and Henri Schoeman (RSA).
Mathias put herself in contention for an esports world triathlon championship podium place after her second-place finish in Sursee and her performance in London, battling until the last second to try and secure an overall medal, finishing seventh on the day and fifth overall.
Golden haul
Paratriathlon returned to Arena Games Triathlon for the first time since 2021 as Finley Jakes, Oscar Kelly, Louis Rolfe MBE and Colin Wallace went head-to-head with paratriathletes from around the world for a unique competition.
Jakes, Rolfe and Wallace all won their respective races as they competed against athletes in their classifications.
Jakes and Kelly competed at this event in 2021, when it was held over a team format, but this was the first time Rolfe and Wallace had competed indoors having only taken part in their first paratriathlon events last year.
After beating Jonathan Deleidi of France to men’s PTS3 gold, Wallace said: “It’s a tough effort, but it’s an amazing format to take part in and it’s a good way of racing. The north east of Scotland isn’t usually this warm at this time of year so it was a little bit of a shock to the system but I’m really chuffed to come out with the win.
“I came here 11 years ago for the Olympics so walking around the Olympic Park still gives me butterflies and the fact that I’m coming here and racing in the pool is unbelievable.”
Rolfe beat Italy’s Gianluca Valori to the men’s PTS3 title and after the race said: “I had a lot of catching up to do after the swim, so it definitely wasn’t an easy race, but it was a lot of fun. I’ve been a massive fan of this series and I’ve been watching it on YouTube constantly, so it’s fantastic to be here and to have the platform to showcase what we can do.”
In the second race of the afternoon, Jakes struck gold in the men’s PTS4, beating France’s Julien Veysseyre. “I had a good swim, bike and then the run was just about trying to hold on until the end,” Jakes said.
“It is good to have something different to the usual season that I have got and it’s good to have a combined race with all the classifications all going off at once. It’s good to have a crowd indoors as well.”
Kelly finished second in a close battle in the men’s PTVI which was won by Héctor Catalá Laparra of Spain.
Saturday’s action concluded two days of intense competition with the heats held on Friday, where the top-two from each heat advanced straight through to the final, while positions 3rd to 7th had to return on Saturday morning for the repechage.
Kate Waugh came close to securing a place in the final in both rounds, finishing third in her heat and posting the same position in the repechage. Katie Rodda was 10th in her heat on her Arena Games Triathlon debut on Friday.
Dan Dixon and Jack Stanton-Stock were both back at the Aquatics Centre on Saturday morning to try and qualify for the final after finishing 4th and 7th in their respective heat.
Dixon came within seven seconds of a place in the final, finishing third with only the top-two progressing, while Stanton-Stock finished seventh in his repechage.
Full results can be viewed here.
