HAMILTON, Bermuda – Continuing her recent podium success, U.S. elite triathlete Taylor Knibb (Washington D.C.) secured the silver medal at the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Bermuda on Sunday, Nov. 6. The second-place position is Knibb's season-best finish this WTCS season, improving from the third place finish she earned in WTCS Cagliari in October.

Crossing the line with a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 4 seconds, Knibb claimed her second WTCS podium of the year and the top finish in the Series for the U.S after a strong come from behind performance on the Olympic-distance (1500-meter swim, 38.5-kilometer bike, 10-kilometer run) hilly and technical course. A week before Bermuda Knibb won the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George, Utah.

“The first 200 meters in the swim I felt like I was in a good spot and then all of a sudden there was all the bodies and I fell back. I was like ‘what happened there?’ But then we came out and I learned that it had rained, so I was ready to get out of that water. I was grateful that on the bike it was a little more dry because on the first few laps I didn’t really have the tire pressure for that I just wanted to stay upright and then the run shocked me, so I am just grateful to be here,” Knibb said of her race performance.

After the swim, Knibb was down 30 seconds going into the first transition. She pushed hard on the first three laps on the bike to move ahead 16 positions and finally merge into a main chase pack that included fellow U.S. compatriots Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.) and Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.). She then put forth her signature bike style and broke away solo with the hopes of catching the two frontrunners of Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Maya Kingma of the Netherlands.

Once off the bike, despite a 43-second deficit from the top, Knibb set her sights on hunting down Kingma, who was in second place. Gaining time with every stride, Knibb managed to pass Kingma on the second lap of the run to move into the silver position. She held her pace all the way to the blue carpet where she ultimately crossed second and 1:38 behind Duffy, who claimed the victory on home soil with a time of 2:01:26.

Completing the podium was Great Britain’s Beth Potter, who placed third with a time of 2:03:17.

“There were good parts and parts that I can work on. Congrats to Flora [Duffy] she crushed it, it was so fun to race on her course and dominate, she definitely put on a show and taught us all a lesson that we have a lot of work to do. But hopefully we are bridging that gap a little bit and we are closer than last time we raced her here, so hopefully we are making some progress. Hats off to Beth Potter, she kept the race honest. I was so scared of her the whole time, especially that last part of the run, I knew she was closing in hot,” Knibb said of the day.

With the podium, Knibb moved up four spots in the overall Series rankings to sit at fifth place and become the top U.S. woman heading into the WTCS Finals in Abu Dhabi that will take place on Nov. 25.

Taylor Spivey was the next U.S. female to cross the line, finishing fifth with a time of 2:04:05. She moves down two spots to seventh overall in the rankings. She was followed by Erika Ackerlund (Helena, Mont.) who took 14th (2:05:50) and Summer Rappaport in 25th (2:08:51).

In the men’s race, Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) pushed to move up 19 spots after the swim to earn the top U.S. men’s finish with 16th place with a time of 1:51:09. His top-20 finish in Bermuda moved him up nine spots in the overall rankings to become the top-ranked male for Team USA going into the WTCS Finals in less than three weeks.

2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Bermuda
1500m swim, 38.5k bike, 10k run

Elite Men Podium – Complete Results
1. Vincent Luis (FRA), 1:49:37
2. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP), 1:45:49
3. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon (ESP), 1:49:54

U.S. Men Finishers
16. Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 1:51:09
37. Chase McQueen (Columbus, Ind.), 1:55:34
DNF Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.)
DNF Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.)
DNF Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.)

Elite Women Podium – Complete Results
1. Flora Duffy (BER), 2:01:26
2. Taylor Knibb (Washington D.C.), 2:03:04
3. Beth Potter (GBR), 2:03:17

U.S. Women Finishers
2. Taylor Knibb (Washington D.C.), 2:03:04
5. Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), 2:04:05
14. Erika Ackerlund (Helena, Mont.), 2:05:50
25. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 2:08:51
DNF Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.)

Taylor Knibb Earns Season Best Second Place Finish at WTCS Bermuda

Loading...