Valentina Riasova and Dmitrii Karpeev have claimed the world title at the Duathlon World Championships 2×2 Mixed Relay. Representing Russia, the duo delivered a dominant performance to cross the finish line first in a winning time of 1:18:31.
Although the 2×2 Mixed Relay format is still struggling to gain widespread traction – with only seven teams lining up at the start this year – the race itself was a fast-paced sprint. In this format, each two-person team (one female and one male athlete) completes four ultra-short duathlon legs consisting of a 2 km run, a 6.1 km bike ride, and a final 1 km run, with the teammates tagging off to each other three times.
Riasova and Karpeev proved untouchable on the course, finishing nearly a full minute ahead of their closest rivals. The Netherlands (Jasmijn Bakker and Thomas Cremers) secured silver in 1:19:30, followed by a French duo (Emma Wasser and Emile Blondel Hermant) taking bronze in 1:19:55.
