Germany defend triathlon mixed team relay world title in Hamburg
The home nation proved too fleet of foot for the rest of the world as Switzerland took silver, New Zealand bronze and Vicky Holland - in her final season - anchored GB to fourth place
Germany retained their mixed team relay world title on home turf in Hamburg, as Great Britain just missed out on the podium.
The fast-running Anita Koch had time to take the German flag on the blue carpet as Switzerland’s Cathia Schar held off New Zealand’s Nicole Van der Kaay for silver.
Vicky Holland, in her final season of competition, brought the GB quartet in for fourth place after Max Stapley, Liv Mathias and Paris-bound Sam Dickinson had put her into contention on the first three legs.
Twenty teams lined up for the event at its traditional home in Hamburg and the final result was the same podium as 2023, but with New Zealand and Switzerland switched for silver and bronze.
What happened on Leg 1?
Both the British and Spanish teams put on a football-inspired display as they were introduced ahead of the evening’s European Championship final held 80 miles east in Berlin.
Stapley, encouraged by his ninth place finish in the individual event on Saturday, was first out of the water and a pack of seven riders made the early break on the 7km bike leg.
It had grown to 10 by the time they reached the run, with USA’s Morgan Pearson among the athletes left behind and needing to make up 18sec on the 1,750m run.
Australia, Mexico, Denmark and Spain were even further back and in danger of being forced out of contention early.
The first leg took just 18:36 as New Zealand’s Tayler Reid won the bragging rights by sprinting to make the first tag. Belgium’s Jelle Geens was next as eight nations stayed firmly in contention.
What happened on Leg 2?
Maya Kingma seized the initiative for the Netherlands on the swim, with GB’s Mathias quickly on to her toes followed by the in-form German Lisa Tertsch.
Switzerland’s Julie Derron and New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe managed to ride up to make a front group of five, leaving Italy’s Alice Betto and Belgium’s Clare Michel chasing.
It was proving a hard weekend for Betto, who was disqualified early in the individual race for outside assistance when a member of her support crew helped her with a mechanical during the bike mount.
To the delight of the home crowd, Tertsch charged through on the final yards of the run followed by Derron and Kingma, but only a handful of seconds separated the top five.
What happened on Leg 3?
Dyan McCullough displayed his swim strength to be first into T1, and the former professional cyclist immediately set about trying to rip the race apart with Germany’s Lasse Luhrs and Switzlerand’s Simon Westermann for company.
Dickinson was solo in fourth place, the lead trio tantalisingly out of his reach, as the Dutch fell out of contention – their woes compounded by news filtering through of a 10sec penalty for a helmet violation.
As the rain started to lash down, Dickinson kept the gap down to just 8sec entering T2 and maintained it over the run, with the medals destined to be decided among the leading four teams.
What happened on Leg 4?
The rain turned into a deluge for the final leg, as Holland took up the virtual baton for GB. Holland first won the team mixed relay title in 2012 alongside Non Stanford, Will Clarke and Jonny Brownlee.
The Rio Olympic bronze medallist faced Koch, Van der Kaay and Schar in the chase for a podium.
Schar led for much of the bike leg, with Holland striving to stay in touch, but as they entered the second of the two laps it became clear it would come down to the run.
Koch and Schar were first out of transition, and the German who won in Hungary last weekend quickly established a lead and held firm to make it three wins in four years for the Germans.
What Koch said:
“The team did such a great job and put me in the perfect position for the run. I just gave everything from the beginning and was happy with the performance of the whole team.”
Hamburg WTCS: Mixed team relay final standings
- Germany 1:19:53
- Switzerland +8
- New Zealand +11
- Great Britain +40
- Belgium +1:48
- Netherlands +1:49
- Italy +1:49
- Hungary +2:49
- United States +3:21
- Canada +4:01
Pic credit: Petko Beier / World Triathlon
Tim Heming
Freelance triathlon journalist 
