Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand was crowned triathlon world champion during the final event of the WTCS world circuit, this Saturday, October 19 in Torremolinos, Spain. She becomes the first Habs to win the world title, after having already won Olympic gold during the Paris Olympics this summer.
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2024 is a golden year for Cassandre Beaugrand. At 27, the French triathlete won the world title by winning the final event of the circuit in Torremolinos in Spain, at the same time becoming the first French world champion in the discipline. A historic performance which crowns a masterful year, already crowned with the Olympic title in Paris this summer.
However, she gave herself a big scare by taking the wrong trajectory at the start of the swimming event. Coming out of the water about fifteen seconds after the best, she caught up on the bike then attacked three kilometers from the finish of the running race, disgusting her rivals. The Frenchwoman finally completed the race with 37 seconds ahead of the British Beth Potter, her main competitor for the world title, and 49 seconds over the other Frenchwoman Emma Lombardi, who battled for a long time before finishing in third place.
A claim filed for “ external assistance »
Cassandre Beaugrand had already won the last two WTCS stages in Cagliari and Hamburg, and started this Saturday with the status of favorite. To win, she had to finish at least one place behind the British Beth Potter or the German Lisa Tertsch. But with his victory, Beaugrand did not have to take out the calculator to capture the world crown. Even in the youth categories, the Frenchwoman had never been crowned world champion, finishing second in 2014 among the Juniors, in 2018 among the Espoirs then again in 2023 among the Seniors.
After the race, a complaint was nevertheless filed against the Frenchwoman for “ external assistance », Announced the International Triathlon Federation. During her error in trajectory at the start of the swimming event, she had in fact headed towards the right of the body of water while all the competitors were heading towards the first buoy located on the left. In images broadcast by the L’Équipe channel, broadcaster of the event, we can see a jet ski coming up to him and pointing out his mistake. The suspense lasted a little over twenty minutes, before the organizers confirmed the official results of the race and definitively validated his victory.
Also readOlympic Games 2024: French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand crowned champion during the first event in the Seine