Seven U.S. Elites Qualify to Finals at Super Sprint World Champs in Hamburg

HAMBURG, Germany – Seven U.S. elite triathletes have qualified for the finals of the 2023 Super Sprint World Championships in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, July 14.

Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.) and Katie Zaferes (Cary, N.C.) survived the first qualifying rounds, while Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.) and Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.) advanced from the repechage round of the first-ever Super Sprint World Championships as part of the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series.

The group of seven will move on to compete in the finals, set for Saturday, July 15.  

The debut Super Sprint World Championships tests the speed of the elites as athletes take on a super-sprint triathlon featuring a 300-meter swim, 7.5-kilometer bike and 1.6-kilometer run in an elimination, multi-round format.  

The qualifying round featured two separate qualifying races, each with 30 women and 30 men racing. The top 10 of each qualifying race automatically qualified for the finals, with the bottom 20 in each qualifying race moving to the repechage round. Athletes had to place in the top five in their respective repechage races.

Spivey, the sole U.S. athlete to compete in the first qualifying event for the women, finished third with a time of 22 minutes and 6 seconds.  

In the second qualifying women’s race, both Kasper and Zaferes finished in the top 10 to also qualify for the finals. Kasper crossed the line fourth with a time of 21:52, while Zaferes finished seventh with a time of 22:00. 

Rappaport and Jorgensen placed outside the automatic qualification in the first round, but were redeemed during the second repechage race in the women’s event. Rappaport finished first in her round at 21:53, with Jorgensen crossing the line a second behind to take fourth (21:54).

McElroy finished 12th (20:01) on the men's side in the first men’s qualifying race. He then was given a second chance in the first repechage round, where he claimed the fifth (19:44) and final position in his heat to advance him to the finals for Saturday. Seth Rider became the second U.S. man to claim a spot in the finals when he also finished fifth in the second men’s repechage race.  

Saturday’s finals will consist of three rounds. The first round will see the 30 qualified take the line and the bottom 10 will be eliminated. The second round follows suit and of the 20 at the start, only 10 will move on to the third and final round, where the final podium will be determined.  

All rounds will be streamed live on Triathlonlive.tv. 

2023 Super Sprint World Championships – Hamburg 
300m swim | 7.5k bike | 1.6k run – Complete Results 

**signifies qualification 

U.S. Women’s Qualifier #1 Finishers 
3. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 22:06** 
 
U.S. Women’s Qualifiers #2 Finishers 
4. Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), 21:52** 
7. Katie Zaferes (Cary, N.C.), 22:00** 
11. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 22:05 
17. Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.), 22:48 

U.S. Men’s Qualifier #1 Finishers 
12. Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 20:01 
14. Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), 20:07 

U.S. Men’s Qualifier #2 Finishers 
18. Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), 21:06 

U.S. Men’s Repechage #1 Finishers 
5. Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 19:44** 
7. Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), 19:51 

U.S. Men’s Repechage #2 Finishers 
5. Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), ** 

U.S. Women’s Repechage #2 Finishers 
1. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 21:53**
4. Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.), 21:54**