The French Mixed Relay Team delivered a masterclass today, securing a dominant victory in the first race where crucial Olympic qualification points were up for grabs. On home soil, the French squad showed outstanding form in a thrilling race that featured four athletes per country, each completing a super-sprint triathlon consisting of a 250-meter swim, 9-kilometer bike, and 1.25-kilometer run.
Heat 1 – Léonie Périault tears the field apart
The race began with Great Britain taking an early lead during the swim, but the field remained closely packed. During the 1.25-kilometer run, Luxembourg initially launched an attack at the front, followed by the United States. Shortly after, France made its move. Léonie Périault tore the field apart with a powerful run, ultimately transitioning in first place to give France a four-second lead over Luxembourg, six seconds over the US, and ten seconds over Belgium.
Heat 2 – France, USA, and Luxembourg join forces
In the second heat, France, the US, and Luxembourg found each other during the swim. The three nations worked together excellently on the bike, successfully extending their lead to 34 seconds over a large chasing group that included Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, and Spain. During the final run, American Seth Rider pushed extremely hard to challenge France and Luxembourg, managing to hand over a handful of seconds ahead of France. However, Luxembourg fell back into the chasing group, setting up a thrilling battle for the third leg.
Heat 3 – Emma Lombardi flies solo
In the third heat – often one of the most decisive legs of the race – France’s Emma Lombardi had no intention of waiting for America’s Gwen Jorgensen. While the two women swam together, Jorgensen simply could not match Lombardi’s fierce pace on the bike. France took a solo lead in the race, with Lombardi riding so strongly that she even gained extra seconds on the chasing group, putting France in an excellent position. Although the chasing pack clawed back some time in the final kilometers of the bike leg, reducing the gap from 35 to 20 seconds, Lombardi dug deep during the run. Gritting her teeth under pressure from behind, she maintained her lead and handed over to France’s final athlete with a 21-second advantage.
Heat 4 – Dorian Coninx seals the win in style
Carried by the home crowd and riding the wave of his individual victory from the previous day at WTCS Quiberon, Dorian Coninx flew through the final leg. Although he lost a few seconds in the water, heading onto the bike with a 17-second lead, he quickly extended his advantage on two wheels. By the halfway mark of the bike leg, his lead had grown to 38 seconds – not because the chasing pack of New Zealand, Australia, Germany, the US, Spain, and Italy wasn’t working, but simply because Coninx was performing at an extraterrestrial level. The Frenchman continued to build his lead, starting the final 1.25-kilometer run with a commanding 47-second cushion. With the victory safely in hand, France crossed the finish line to take a spectacular home win in 1:23:42. Italy finished second in 1:24:06 and Spain third in 1:24:07.
