Katie Zaferes competes at World Triathlon Stockholm on Aug. 26, 2017 in Stockholm.
Make that three in a row and No. 1 in the world for Katie Zaferes.
Zaferes, a 2016 Olympian, took bronze in Sunday’s World Triathlon Leeds elite women’s race in England. It was her third consecutive podium finish on the World Triathlon Series circuit following a bike crash in the season-opening event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that landed her in the hospital with a concussion.
Great Britain’s Vicky Holland, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, won in 1 hour, 56 minutes, 32 seconds, 17 seconds ahead of countrywoman Georgia Taylor-Brown. Zaferes was 13 seconds behind Taylor-Brown.
Zaferes has finished third, second and third in her last three races. With her finish in Leeds, Zaferes moved up to first in the 2018 series rankings after sitting second following the Yokohama, Japan, race.
She is the only woman to medal at three of this season’s four races.
Also finishing among the top 10 was Taylor Spivey, who placed seventh. Chelsea Burns finished 19th.
Kirsten Kasper, third in the standings prior to Leeds, was 24th Sunday and fell to seventh overall.
Zaferes’ bronze is her 14th career World Triathlon Series medal. She is the 2017 world bronze medalist.
On the men’s side, the top U.S. finisher was Eli Hemming, who was 20th in 1:48:52. South Africa’s Richard Murray won in 1:45:53, with Spain’s Mario Mola 8 seconds back.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is sports editor of the Cape Cod Times and a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
