Before the race, Cassandre Beaugrand made no secret of it: “The ultimate goal this year and even in recent years was the Olympic Games. This is just an added bonus. » HE “bonuses” It’s still worth the detour. On Saturday, October 19, in Torremolinos, near Malaga, in the south of Spain, she became the first Frenchwoman to be crowned triathlon world champion, after her victory in the grand final of the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS). ). The epilogue of an exceptional year 2024 in which the Franciliana will also win, above all, the gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
Presented for ten years as an exceptional talent, the tall blonde, one of the figures of her discipline, had always narrowly escaped this title of world champion. Among the juniors (2014), the Espoirs (2018) or the adults (2023), Cassandre Beaugrand took second place each time. And once again, on Saturday, he almost missed the coronation on cable.
But this year, the 26-year-old Frenchwoman showed that nothing could faze her anymore. And this when he could have lost everything immediately and after the terrible experience. After getting seriously lost during the swim at the start of the race, a rare situation in triathlon, Cassandre Beaugrand managed to emerge not far from the front during the swim-cycling transition, thanks to a very fast swim. This unusual episode – a jet ski with race marshals on board seems to have come to warn the Frenchwoman that she was not at all on the correct trajectory – provoked the reaction of the British clan, which presented a reservation: second Saturday, the champion defender Beth Potter could be crowned in case of disqualification. After an hour of discussions, the claim for “external help” failed and the Frenchwoman was able to enjoy her podium, even if it was delayed.
How has the French athlete managed to dominate her sport like this for months? The answer to this question surely lies in his choice, in 2022, to leave the sun of Montpellier for the permanent autumn of Loughborough, a small town in the Midlands famous for its university’s athletics section (its president, Sebastian Coe, does not is another). than the president of the International Athletics Federation. There he joined his partner, Hector Pardoe, British open water swimming champion, and resumed his studies so that he could benefit from the student visa and the university facilities. “He found there the balance of life he needed at that moment, stated the national technical director of the triathlon, Benjamín Maze. That athletes are happy is really what will make the difference between those who are subject to a performance system and those who are enlightened, accomplished citizens who have the keys to their sporting project. »
The French Emma Lombardi also on the podium
For Cassandre Beaugrand, the equation was simple. First in the general classification of the world championship before the start of the race, thanks to his victories in the last two WTCS in Cagliari (Italy) and Hamburg (Germany), a first place on Saturday in Spain secured him the title.
And once the fear of swimming was overcome, the Frenchwoman left little suspense for the Andalusian spectators who came en masse to support the triathletes. While we could have expected a final sprint to choose the winner of the day, Cassandre Beaugrand decided otherwise.
From the fourth kilometer of the race (out of ten), the Frenchwoman accelerated and none of her two main opponents of the day, the British Beth Potter and the French Emma Lombardi, could follow her. Cassandre Beaugrand arrived with a lead of 37 seconds over Potter and 49 seconds over her compatriot and friend, whom she rushed to hug at the finish line.
For Lombardi, this third place in Spain is a satisfaction after his frustrating “chocolate medal” in Paris this summer. It even allowed him to get on the podium in the general classification, along with Cassandre Beaugrand, now the undisputed queen of the discipline.
