Kyle Smith and Paula Findlay big winners of Challenge Beijing

Kyle Smith (NZL) and Paula Findlay (CAN) have taken the wins at the inaugural Challenge Beijing, taking home the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize purse and marking Challenge Family’s successful debut in Yanqing, Beijing with exciting racing over the non-drafting Olympic distance.

The men’s race saw constant shifts in the lead. Henri Schoeman (RSA) exited the water first, closely followed by Aaron Royle (AUS). A 500-metre run to the transition area gave the chasing athletes time to close the gap. Once on the bike, Smith took the early lead, as expected. Despite wet conditions, the course allowed for smooth riding. Smith, Royle, Schoeman, and Marc Dubrick (USA) maintained a tight formation, adhering to the Challenge Family 20-metre drafting rule. As the race progressed, Frederic Funk (GER) made a decisive move, overtaking Smith to take the lead. By the end of the bike segment, Funk had completed the course in 52:47, with Smith and Royle arriving 50 seconds later. On the run, Funk set a fast pace on the flat course, but Smith quickly began closing the gap. As the race continued, Smith overtook Funk while Schoeman and Dubrick moved up, passing both Funk and Royle, setting up an intense final stretch. After a battling last kilometre, Smith claimed victory with a remarkable time of 1:47:00. Hot on his heels was Marc Dubrick, who secured second place with a time of 1:47:08, while Henri Schoeman finished third in 1:47:23. Not far behind, Frederic Funk (1:47:58), Aaron Royle (1:48:05), and Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) (1:50:49) rounded out the top six.

“It was a really tough race,” said Smith. “One thing I had today was my head, and I have a mantra, it is ‘keep moving forward and that’s what I had to do.”

In the women’s race, Sian Rainsley (GBR) led out of the water, followed closely by Julie Derron (SUI) and Ellie Salthouse (AUS), who trailed by 30 seconds in third place. This race marked Rainsley’s first experience with a non-drafting Olympic distance competition. As the athletes transitioned to the bike, Derron took the lead, with Rainsley behind her. Salthouse and Lucy Byram (GBR) followed just a few seconds back. During the bike segment, Salthouse moved up into second place, pushing Rainsley into third; meanwhile, Byram and Findlay completed the first lap of the bike at 23km, with Salthouse trailing them by just under a minute. As the race reached the run segment, Byram and Findlay exited T2 together, with Salthouse entering 1:36 behind. During the run, Findlay created a small gap, moving six seconds ahead of Byram. Salthouse remained in third place, 1:30 behind, while Derron followed in fourth, 2:35 behind the leader. The race remained close, with Findlay breaking away from Byram in the final kilometres and Derron moving up to third place, impressive following her silver medal race in Paris just a couple of weeks ago. Findlay took the top spot in 1:57:36. Byram finished second with a time of 1:57:56, and Derron claimed third place in 1:58:28. The competition remained fierce, with Ellie Salthouse (1:59:57), Sian Rainsley (2:01:20), and Amelia Watkinson (NZL) (2:03:38) completing the top six.

“It was really hard,” said Findlay. “I haven’t raced an Olympic distance for a long time, and it was just painful the whole way. I forgot how to do that 10km speed, but I had to keep reminding myself that it was a short race and to go hard. I’m super happy to win.”