From California to Texas, pro racing was held stateside this weekend with Super League events in Malibu, while the PTO took over Dallas, Texas.
Both Taylor Spivey and Taylor Knibb had phenomenal race days, earning a spot on the podium.
It's good to be a Taylor in triathlon this past weekend!
Super League Malibu
Malibu, Calif.
How are we now over halfway through the 2022 Championship Series for Super League? This season has been flying by with the last three weeks hosting events, starting in London to Munich and now this past weekend in Malibu.
This was the only race of the season to be held in the U.S., which led to more U.S. athletes on the start list!
Such as Summer Rappaport, who made her Championship '22 debut this weekend. She joined Team Cheetah and had a fantastic result, finishing 4th on the day.
The race format for Malibu was the Eliminator, which "has three rounds of swim-bike-run with a short break in between each. A pre-defined number of athletes are eliminated after each discipline of every stage making positioning crucial. There are two Short Chutes up for grabs – to be taken on the third and final run."
Also racing for the first time in the Series was Gina Sereno. She also joined the Cheetah team and ended up placing 15th.
But the big player on top for the weekend went to Spivey. She has been dominating this season, making podium in each race so far. But this time, she not only made podium, but got to step to the top of it - claiming the overall win!
Her victory then catapulted her to the top of the female rankings, making her now the one to beat!
In the men's race, Chase McQueen improved once again to earn his best result of the season, finishing 6th. He now sits 6th in the overall rankings.
Davis Bove also got to make his debut Super League appearance in Malibu, racing for the Sharks, finishing 15th.
PTO US Open
Irving, Texas
The PTO made their way to the lonestar state for the US Open. Both start lists were stacked with all-start talent all vying for the total $1 million prize purse!
U.S. tri fans were delighted to see the return of Taylor Knibb to the women's start line after she had to take some time off from injury.
And for the majority of the race, it seemed like her first race back was going to bring in a victory. She led for most of the race, until at the very end on the run, the gas left her tank and she slowed down her pace enough for Australia's Ashleigh Gentle to pass her, despite Knibb having an over seven-minute lead off the bike.
Knibb still managed to cross the finish line in second, however, finishing with a time of 3:38:32.
The win was kept within the home nation in the men's race as Collin Chartier battled it out to earn the win, with a time of 3:17:16. The win was just 42 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Magnus Elbaek Ditlev, with then U.S. compatriot Sam Long completing the podium in third another 10 seconds after that.
It was a nail-biter of a finish in this race. As Sam Long took an early lead on the run.
Chartier put the pedal to the metal with a come-from-behind push on the run to bypass Long and claim his victory!
It was then a tight finish for second, with Magnus ultimately taking the slight advantage.
But two U.S. athletes on the podium for the US Open? Can't complain about that!
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