Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen and Great Britain’s Oliver Conway have won the second Supertri event of the season at Blenheim Palace. The race was held over the sprint distance, and as expected, the margins were razor-thin.
Women’s Race
In the women’s event, Vermeylen started the final run simultaneously with three other athletes. Together with Jessica Fullagar, Olivia Mathias, and Eve Whitaker, Vermeylen held a 44-second lead over Léonie Périault and Zuzana Michalickova heading into the final discipline.
Vermeylen didn’t look back, focusing only on what lay ahead, and dropped the other athletes almost immediately. The fact that Périault managed to hunt down everyone else behind Vermeylen didn’t matter to the world-class Belgian triathlete; she crossed the line to win in 1:02:18. Périault claimed second place in 1:02:48, while Mathias rounded out the podium in third at 1:02:59.
Men’s Race
On the men’s side, a much larger pack started the final 5-kilometer run together. Conway was well-positioned in the mix alongside Jack Willis, Mitch Kolkman, Fynn Batkin, Christopher Perham, Michael Gar, and Thomas Hattee.
Just like Vermeylen, Conway broke away from his rivals almost immediately, ultimately taking the victory with a time of 55:51. Charles Paquet secured second place in 55:55, and Luke Willian finished third in 56:02.
