T100 Grand Final: Taylor Knibb wins fourth of four races to seal inaugural World Championship title in Dubai
Published 16/11/2024 at 14:21 GMT
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Taylor Knibb finished the inaugural T100 season in style, maintaining her 100% record in the long-distance triathlon format to win the Grand Final in Dubai and lift the first World Championship trophy. The American led from early in the bike section and held off a challenge from Australia's Ashleigh Gentle, her biggest rival, in the run, to write her name into the sport's history books.
Highlights: No stopping Knibb in Las Vegas as American makes history
Video credit: TNT Sports
Taylor Knibb produced an incredible performance in the T100 Grand Final to claim her first ever World Championship title, soloing to victory amid high heat and humidity in Dubai.
The American established a lead on the bike and, although she saw her lead cut drastically in the opening stages of the 18km run, her main rival Ashleigh Gentle began to suffer and Knibb powered down the blue carpet to glory.
Switzerland's Julie Derron had been another in the mix for the win on the bike section and, despite being distanced by Gentle on the run, accelerated past her in the closing kilometre to take second place, with the Australian forced to settle for third.
Knibb stood for a moment at the finish line, lifting the tape aloft, before sinking to the ground, while Derron cheered and waved to the crowds as she crossed the line 1'52'' behind.
"I woke up and messaged my coach to say that I feel rough, like, 'oh this is going to be a bad day'," Knibb said at the finish line. "I was kind of shocked [to win], it only came together in the last 3k when everyone else came apart.
"It was very step by step, it was brutal out there. I think it was more physically [challenging], the mental is almost the easier part - you just have to deal with your body. It was great."
She explained that her plan was made easier by the knowledge that she only needed to finish second in Dubai to claim the overall series title.
Knibb said: "So with that, I had a little more to play [with]. When I wasn't losing time to Julie as much it was a lot easier for me, and I knew with Ashleigh, the cards were in her hands. That almost helped me have a better performance, because I didn't have that pressure.
"I think my dad was more nervous than me. He was in the room before the race, saying do you have your tape, do you have this, do you have this? I was like, 'you're really nervous'. It's a huge team effort and I'm hugely grateful for everyone who supports me."
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It was a fourth win in four T100 races for Knibb, who has enjoyed a dominant season in the 100km format, winning the San Francisco, Ibiza, and Lake Las Vegas rounds as well as Dubai and amassing 160 points. For Derron - a wildcard for the series - it was a third second place in the T100 to cap off an excellent season en route to third place overall.
Knibb had distanced Gentle and Derron on the 80km bike ride but by less than expected, drawing out a 2'45'' advantage going into the final transition, and setting up a nail-biting finale. In over 30 degree heat and 50% humidity on a cloudless afternoon in Dubai, the conditions were brutal.
Derron and Gentle are considered two of the best runners in the format but the Swiss - although she initially pulled away from Gentle in the early stages of the run - was soon caught and overtaken as the Australian motored up the track to hunt down Knibb.
With two laps to go she had slashed her deficit to just 52 seconds, but the Aussie faded as Knibb kept piling the pressure on, delivering one of the runs of her career to hold the gap steady.
And Gentle's efforts told as she slowed to a halt in the final 2km, clutching her stomach and in visible pain, while Knibb continued to power on and extend her lead.
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‘Future of our sport is so bright!’ – Knibb makes history with T100 victory in Las Vegas
Video credit: TNT Sports
Gentle, who took victory in Singapore and London, needed to both beat Knibb and for the American to finish third or lower in Dubai in order to claim the overall title, but it was not to be as she finished second in the series standings.
The 33-year-old finished 2'26'' down on Knibb, collapsing across the finish line and ending the series with 132 points, comfortably ahead of Derron on 101.
Former Olympic champion Flora Duffy produced a brilliant run to finish fourth. Kat Matthews was fifth, the highest-placed Brit, crossing the line a shade over five minutes after the winner, just ahead of fellow Brit Lucy Byram in sixth.
The race could have ended differently after some controversial penalty calls. Switzerland's Imogen Simmonds had been going toe-to-toe with Gentle and Derron in the bike ride, before a contentious 30-second penalty for littering when she appeared to lose grip and drop her bottle outside the permitted zone complicated her race.
Officials opted to penalise her and although she caught the chasing duo a little after, she lost time on the run, eventually finishing ninth.
Knibb could also have had her race derailed but escaped sanction for a similar offence. The American dropped a bottle inside the litter zone on the bike, but her momentum had carried her so far that the bottle hit the ground outside the zone, in theory enough for a 30-second penalty of her own.
Race officials did not pick up on it and she continued unimpeded to seal her first World Championship title and bring the curtain down on a brilliant season, which also include a silver medal in the mixed relay at the Paris Olympics this summer.
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