(L-R) Alexandra Razarenova of Russia, Summer Rappaport and Lisa Perterer of Australia pose for the elite women's podium at the 2019 Huatulco ITU Triathlon World Cup on June 9, 2019 in Huatulco, Mexico.
Summer Rappaport had a Canadian weekend to remember, eh?
One day after boosting her world ranking from eighth to sixth with a second-place finish in a World Triathlon Series elite women’s race in Edmonton, Alberta, Rappaport helped the U.S. to a third-place finish in Sunday’s mixed relay.
Rappaport has reached the podium in her last four WTS events.
Racing in the opening leg in her first WTS mixed relay, Rappaport (née Cook) had a strong run segment to boost the U.S. from third place to first. She had the fastest time (2:14) of any runner.
A strong run by Taylor Knibb kept the U.S. in second place, behind New Zealand, entering the dramatic final leg. Morgan Pearson, who had a career-best sixth-place finish in Saturday’s elite men’s race, held off Australia’s Matthew Hauser for a third-place finish and the bronze medal.
A 10-second penalty for a handover during the final leg cost Team Australia a spot on the podium. Team USA finished third with a time of 1:20:33, beating Australia by three seconds.
Joining Rappaport, Knibb and Pearson on the U.S. team was Seth Rider.
New Zealand won the gold medal with a winning time of 1:20:14. Great Britain finished second, nine seconds back.
It was the second podium finish of the year for the U.S. in mixed relay. The U.S. won a silver medal in the season-opening event in Abu Dhabi in March, albeit with a totally different quartet of racers.
The next mixed relay event is the ITU World Olympic Qualification Event on August 18 in Tokyo. Mixed relay will make its Olympic debut at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
