U.S. Junior Triathlete Reese Vannerson Wins Bronze at Junior World Championships Montreal

MONTREAL — U.S. Junior triathlete Reese Vannerson (Sugar Land, Texas) earned the bronze medal on Friday at the 2022 World Triathlon Junior World Championships and four elite U.S. triathletes advanced to Saturday’s finals of the World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal on the first of three action-packed days of elite, Junior and age group racing in Montreal.

World Triathlon Junior World Championships
Vannerson came to Montreal riding high off his win at the 2022 Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Düsseldorf earlier this month. But even he couldn’t believe he won bronze in Friday’s 2022 World Triathlon Junior World Championships.

“I don’t believe it. I was 60th on the start list today. Oh my God,” Vannerson exclaimed after crossing the finish line in a time of 52 minutes flat on the course that changed from a traditional sprint-distance triathlon to a duathlon (run-bike-run) format due to poor water conditions in the St. Lawrence River.

The duathlon format was fine by Vannerson, who is a strong runner.

He used that footspeed to run to the front of the pack on the first 2.5-kilometer run, then rode with the lead group on the 19.3k bike, before letting it fly on the final 5k run, clocking the field’s third-fastest 5k time.

Thomas Hansmaennel of France pulled away midway through the 5k to handily win the Junior World Championship in a time of 51:40. Australia’sToby Powers took the silver in 51:57.

“On the finish, I was just like, that guy right there (Powers), if I lose to him, then that’s my chance at the podium. He pushed me deeper than anyone ever has before,” said Vannerson, who praised his fellow U.S. Junior athletes who competed with him on Friday and at the 2022 Europe Triathlon Junior Cup Düsseldorf. “The team we put together this year is unworldly. Everyone is so talented, everyone is so nice. We’re like brothers and sisters at this point. It’s really sweet to be here together, racing internationally with this group of people.”

Fellow U.S. Junior athletes Luke Anthony (East Lyme, Conn.) and Eli McWard (Prosper, Texas)  placed 17th and 51st, respectively.

Faith Dasso (New Braunfels, Texas) led the U.S. Junior women, taking 14th in a time of 59:41, an improvement of nearly 10 spots from her 23rd place finish at last year’s World Triathlon Junior Championships in Quarteira, Portugal.

Naomi Ruff (West Chicago, Ill.) placed 21st, Freya McKinley (Centennial, Colo.) took 28th and Britney Brown (O’Fallon, Ill.) finished 33rd.

Four U.S. Juniors will team up for Sunday’s Junior Mixed Relay World Championships.

World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal
In elite racing, Friday kickstarted the first day of the World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal that features super-sprint distance racing across two days and is contested in the unique “eliminator” format that made its debut on the World Triathlon circuit last year.

Like the Junior races, the elites raced a duathlon format, on a super-sprint distance course consisting of a 1k run, 7.2k bike and 2k run.

Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) survived the first day to advance to Saturday’s finals. Kasper, Rappaport and McElroy all finished in the top 10 in the first race, automatically advancing them to Saturday’s finals.

Spivey, however, finished outside the top 10 in her race and had to race again, 4 hours later, in the repechage to secure her spot.

The U.S. quartet now faces the gauntlet of the eliminator format on Saturday. The 30 qualifiers per gender will line up for a three-race final — in the span of 90 minutes. At the end of the first race, the last 10 across the line will be eliminated. At the end of the second, 10 more will be eliminated. The last race of the weekend will see the remaining 10 elite athletes battle it out for gold.

Up Next & Tune In
All races will be broadcast live at TriathlonLIVE.tv with subscriptions available for purchase.

Saturday’s World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal finals begin at 2:06 p.m. ET with the elite women, followed by the elite men at 4:46 p.m.

On Saturday, nearly 300 age group Team USA athletes will compete at the World Triathlon Age Group Sprint Championships. The Age Group Sprint Draft Legal World Championships begin at 7:15 a.m. ET on Saturday for the age 45 and older men, with the women racing at 8:35 a.m. ET. The age 45 and younger men race at 10:05 a.m. ET.

For more information about Team USA, comprised of the amateur athletes who represent the U.S. in World Triathlon Age Group World Championship events, visit usatriathlon.org/teamusa.

The Age Group Mixed Relay World Championships kick off the final day of racing on Sunday, with two waves at 7:15 and 10:45 a.m. ET. The Junior Mixed Relay World Championships begin at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday and the Elite Mixed Relay World Championship begins at 4:45 p.m. ET.

2022 World Triathlon Junior World Championships
2.5k run, 19.3k bike, 5k run (format switched to duathlon)

Junior Men
1. Thomas Hansmaennel (FRA), 51:40
2. Toby Powers (AUS), 51:57
3. Reese Vannerson (Sugar Land, Texas), 52:00

U.S. Finishers
17. Luke Anthony (East Lyme, Conn.), 53:19
51. Eli McWard (Prosper, Texas), 58:32

Junior Women
1. Tilda Månsson (SWE), 57:17
2. Jule Behrens (GER), 57:29
3. Livia Gross (SUI), 58:03

U.S. Finishers
14. Faith Dasso (New Braunfels, Texas), 59:41
21. Naomi Ruff (West Chicago, Ill.), 1:00:50
28. Freya McKinley (Centennial, Colo.), 1:01:22
33. Britney Brown (O’Fallon, Ill.), 1:02:00