Last year was a good one for Karolina Horvath. A maiden top-10 finish at a World Cup came courtesy of her 7th place in Huatulco. She stepped up as part of the Hungarian relay quartet that narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification at the final qualifier by a matter of seconds. And then came the big one. Then, to conclude her season, she powered to the World U23 title following a tense showdown in the final kilometres in which winning and missing the podium came down to the thinnest of margins.
Horvath’s victory in Torremolinos was unquestionably the high point of her season. Yet it did not come as much of a surprise to the rising Hungarian star. “I actually was able to stick to my training schedule and I could pay attention to recovery and other important aspects. Because of this, about two weeks before the world championships I started to feel I could win the race. So I went to the start line with this mentality that I could win and that I believed I could.”
“It felt surreal (to win), but I wasn’t surprised when it happened. It’s hard to describe it but I went there to win.”
This represented a shift in outlook from the rest of the season. “In the other part of the season, I went to the races with the mentality that I want to feel happy during the race and that I want to give everything, but I don’t really care about the result. Before the world championships it was totally different and it worked, so I will try to use this mentality for this season as well.”
Far from burdening her, Horvath’s internal expectation lifted her to a new level as she outkicked the likes of Zuzana Michalickova and Maria Tomé, the silver medallist from the 2023 edition. Following her breakout showing, plenty of new eyes will follow her in this coming movement. However the prospect of any external expectation does not concern her.
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure,” she said. “And my expectations for myself have also grown. I would rather say that the result gives me more motivation for this season and the future. After the world championships, I had three weeks off, but I just wanted to train. It was really hard to rest after the result. So it definitely gives me more motivation and desire, rather than any pressure.”
This season, Horvath will be in her final year as an U23 athlete and so will have the chance to defend her title this October in Wollongong. Given the late finish to the season, she has taken the decision to delay the start of her campaign to June, thereby opting out of the opening rounds of the WTCS and World Cup circuits. Beyond her life in triathlon, though, this will give her time to focus on her university studies in environmental economics.
Once Horvath returns to racing, the European Championships will be among her main priorities. Further appearances on the World Cup stage, including at Tiszaujvaros, a race she calls “one of the best World Cups of the season”, will also be on her radar. And then there is the WTCS.
To date, Horvath has raced twice in the Series but has not yet fully broken through. Based on her Torremolinos display, however, there certainly appears to be more to come. Indeed, the mentality shift that took her to the World U23 title and the concomitant boost in confidence may be the key to taking the next step at the highest level.
Nevertheless, Horvath is aware that the jump in standard in the Series is as much physical as it is psychological. “The biggest difference is you have to push 100% of the bike right away to keep up with the others. For me it was the hardest part, the swim to bike transition because in World Cups and especially in the U23 races or the European Cups you have a little time to put everything together in your head after the swim. In the WTCS, there is no time for that.”
Zooming out, Horvath’s rise adds to what is rapidly becoming a golden era for Hungarian triathlon. Csongor Lehmann won the men’s World U23 title three years earlier and has since become a WTCS medallist. In addition, the country has taken multiple World Cup medals in recent years while, in the ranks below Horvath’s cohort, there is also hope in the form of World Junior Championships silver medallist Fanni Szalai.
“The success has been incredibly inspiring,” Horvath said of her compatriots, “because it gives me an example that I can follow. Lehmann was also the U23 world champion so now I want to follow his way. No pressure, but it’s very, very inspiring.”
When Karolina Horvath makes her bow for 2025, then, look out for her to continue both her own rise as well as that of Hungarian triathlon. With everything coming together both mentally and physically, she won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
