Vincent Luis and Lauren Parker etched their names into history this weekend in Lausanne, taking home world championship titles in triathlon and paratriathlon.
Luis became the first Frenchman to win the ITU triathlon world title since the inception of the six-race World Triathlon Series in 2009, while Parker became the ITU Paratriathlon World Championship.
Luis had previously won the junior world title in 2008 and ended 2017 and 2018 strong winning the Grand Final races, so taking the world title home was his top priority this year. His consistent performance across the World Triathlon Series this year propelled him to the top of the WTS points leaderboard. He sealed the win with a Top 5 finish at the Grand Final.
Competition
While he had positioned himself well through the 1.5-kilometre swim, fierce competition alongside the likes of Mario Mola and Bahrain Endurance 13 teammate Javier Gomez kept the competitors bunched up throughout the 40-km bike ride. On the run, Kristian Blummenfelt broke away from the pack early in final 10-kilometre run as Mola and Luis ran together.
In the final kilometres, Mola broke away from his training partner to move up into second behind Blummenfelt as Fernando Alarza and Gustav Iden shot forward into third and fourth. Luis settled for fifth on the day, which was more than enough to cement his position atop the series standings.
Gomez crossed the finish line 20 seconds behind Luis, in sixth on the day but ending the year ranked third in the world.
Parker went on the attack from the gun and led wire-to-wire in the race for the PTWC category. While the swim has always been her strength, Parker also roared through the hilly bike course and kept the pace high during the run to cross the finish line more than two minutes ahead of the field.
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