While the European Challenge Family season has officially wrapped up, racing action continued overnight (European time, ed.) in China as Challenge Xiamen took center stage. It was Australia’s Kieran Storch and Spain’s Sara Perez Sala who claimed dominant victories, dethroning last year’s champions Ognjen Stojanovic and Alanis Siffert in style.
Men’s Race: Storch Runs to Glory
In the men’s race, Australia’s Nicholas Free led the field out of the water in 23:35, followed closely by Ollie Turner, Stojanovic, and Sam Osborne. The same quartet stayed together on the bike, with Jonathan Guisolan and Kieran Storch giving chase. In the closing kilometers of the bike leg, Guisolan and Storch finally bridged up to the lead group, but their presence quickly shook things up. Guisolan attempted to break away but couldn’t make it stick.
Once on the run, it became clear early on that Storch had the strongest legs of the day. He powered to victory in 3:37:33, with Stojanovic holding on for second in 3:39:23 and Turner edging out Osborne for third in 3:41:19.
“I didn’t look at my power meter today – that would’ve only slowed me down,” Storch laughed after the race. “I just wanted to go as hard as I could and kept myself cool with plenty of water. Ognjen kept pushing all day, so it was an awesome battle.”
Women’s Race: Perez Sala in a League of Her Own
In a slight surprise, it wasn’t Sara Perez Sala who led the women out of the water – instead, Australia’s Mikayla Messer set the pace with a 23:54 swim, just ahead of Perez Sala. Defending champion Alanis Siffert, however, was already two minutes back and faced an uphill battle.
On the bike, Perez Sala wasted no time taking control. The Spaniard simply dominated, building an incredible ten-minute lead heading into T2 – a remarkable gap given the strength of the chasers. It was Amelia Watkinson, not Siffert, who arrived second in transition, but by that point, the race was effectively decided.
Perez Sala sealed the win in 3:53:31, with Watkinson finishing second in 4:04:32 and Chloe Hartnett rounding out the podium in 4:09:46.
“It’s my first time racing in China, and this event is just amazing,” Perez Sala said afterward. “The volunteers were incredible, the organization was perfect, and the course was beautiful. My performance felt great – winning always feels great – so I’m super happy. Even with a ten-minute lead, you can still lose it on the run, so I only started celebrating about three kilometers from the finish. I actually don’t want my season to end because I’m feeling so strong, but it’s also important to take a break and enjoy ‘normal life’ for a while.”