EDMONTON, Alberta — Summer Rappaport struck silver on Saturday at the penultimate event of the 2019 ITU World Triathlon Series, earning her fourth career ITU WTS medal and maintaining a streak of U.S. athletes finishing on the podium at each 2019 WTS race. Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Ben Kanute all earned top-10 finishes, which were career-best performances for Pearson and Kanute.
Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.) clocked in at 1 hour, 1 minute, 25 seconds on the sprint-distance 750-meter swim, 22-kilometer bike, 5-kilometer run course, finishing just 2 seconds behind Australia Emma Jackson, who claimed her claimed her first WTS victory in 1:01:23. Jackson, Rappaport, and bronze medalist Ashleigh Gentle, also of Australia, finished within 4 seconds of each other in a tight race to the finish. Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.) finished fifth in 1:01:47 for her sixth top-10 result of the season.
Rappaport found herself in familiar territory out at the front of the swim, leading the pack into the first transition and out onto the bike with Spivey and Great Britain’s Sophie Caldwell. The lead pack grew to 19 women after Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.) made the push to bridge to the leaders before sustaining a mechanical issue, with the next chase group more than half a minute back at the start of the run. Once out on the run, Rappaport kept close to Jackson, Gentle, and Belgium’s Claire Michel through nearly the entire 5k. With only 200 meters to go, Jackson edged Rappaport for the win.
Edmonton was the site of Rappaport’s first career WTS win in 2016, and Saturday’s result marks her second silver WTS medal of the season, after picking up a silver medal in Yokohama, Japan, in May. It is her third medal in her last three WTS starts, having won bronze just two weeks ago in Hamburg, Germany. Rappaport’s finish moves her to sixth in the WTS Rankings, while Spivey maintains her position at No. 4 and Katie Zaferes (Santa Cruz, Calif.), who opted to sit out Edmonton for a training block, remains ranked No. 1.
In the men’s race, Pearson (Boulder, Colo.) was the top U.S. finisher in sixth with a time of 55:19, earning his best WTS career finish to date. His previous best came in May 2018 in Yokohama, where he finished 14th. Pearson finished just ahead of Kanute (Phoenix, Ariz.), who came in seventh in 55:28, for his own career-best WTS finish.
Two-time Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain claimed the top spot of the podium for the first time this season, finishing in 54:52, while Spain’s Mario Mola claimed his third WTS podium of the season in 54:57. Belgium Marten Van Riel rounded out the podium in 55:02.
Another known swimmer, Kanute powered through the first 750m leg of the race, joining Brownlee, Van Riel, France’s Vincent Luis and Australian Matthew Hauser on a breakaway that kept them roughly 20 seconds ahead of the chase group through the 22k bike. Mola sprinted his way through the lead group in the final kilometer of the run, but Pearson’s fourth-fastest run split allowed him to stay ahead of the rest of the chasers he came off the bike with, while Kanute held his own to stay close to the front of the pack as well. Other U.S. competitors in the men's race did not finish due to crashes on the bike.
The 2019 World Triathlon Series concludes in Lausanne, Switzerland, with the Grand Final set for Aug. 29-Sept. 1.
ITU World Triathlon Edmonton
750m swim, 22k bike, 5k run
Elite Women — Complete Results
1. Emma Jackson (AUS), 1:01:23
2. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 1:01:25
3. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), 1:01:27
U.S. Finishers
2. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 1:01:25
5. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 1:01:47
18. Tamara Gorman (Rapid City, S.D.), 1:03:19
21. Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.), 1:03:43
DNF Chelsea Burns (Seattle, Wash.)
Elite Men — Complete Results
1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), 54:52
2. Mario Mola (ESP), 54:57
3. Marten Van Riel (BEL), 55:02
U.S. Finishers
6. Morgan Pearson (Boulder, Colo.), 55:19
7. Ben Kanute (Phoenix, Ariz.), 55:28
DNF Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), Eli Hemming (Kiowa, Colo.), Matthew McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Robby Webster (Puyallup, Wash.)
About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon and paratriathlon in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,300 events and connects with more than 400,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work with athletes, coaches, and race directors on the grassroots level, USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of the ITU and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
