France’s Leonie Periault triumphed at the Yokohama World Triathlon Championship Series, securing her Olympic spot with a commanding win. Periault finished 36 seconds in front of American competitor Taylor Knibb in second place and 40 seconds ahead of fellow Frenchwoman Emma Lombardi, who took home the bronze.
In the series, 29-year-old Periault won her second gold medal of her career with a winning time of 01:52:28. She and 22-year-old Lombardi will proudly represent France at the next Games.
Knibb had already guaranteed her place after finishing in the top eight of the Paris test event the previous year. Kirsten Kasper took fifth, but Taylor Spivey was unable to qualify for the Olympics after finishing in fourth place.
Double world champion Gwen Jorgensen placed fifteenth, while Flora Duffy, the current Olympic champion, miraculously recovered from an injury to take seventh place.
Knibb moved quickly through the water, and Duffy fought through the cycling part even after Maya Kingma had a puncture. However, Periault’s unmatched performance on the track was what really won her the race; Lombardi managed to keep up the longest before eventually losing ground.
