It took an exciting final sprint, but Karolina Helga Horváth has just become U23 World Champion in Torremolinos, Spain.
Immediately during the swim Horváth was in a good position, although the Hungarian athlete had to watch as nine women got out of the water just a bit earlier; the Canadian Sophia Howell was the fastest over the 1500 meters with a time of 19:53 minutes, but Horváth followed in tenth position, conceding only eighteen seconds.
On the bike, a leading group of nine women quickly formed, including Horváth. Behind them a second group with another eight women formed, initially riding some forty seconds behind. After just over an hour on the race clock, however, this group closed the gap to the front, and so seventeen women began the final ten-kilometer run together.
At the front, six women joined together to run in the lead; Nora Gmür, Maria Tomé, Cathia Schär, Zuzana Michalickova, Horváth and Candice Denizot. This stayed that way for at least five kilometers, while the pace kept picking up a little more, especially by Tomé.
Thanks to the pace that was increasing constantly, only Tomé, Schär, Michalickova and Horváth stayed in the lead together, and they made it particularly exciting in the last two kilometers. Tomé continued to set the pace, but the other three ladies constantly followed in her wake and did not give an inch.
In the end, it was Schär who placed the first serious acceleration, but she also paid the price for it herself as the other three women passed her immediately. In the end it all came down to a final sprint on the blue carpet, where Horváth proved the fastest, winning in a time of 1:57:13. Michalickova was second at 4 seconds and Tomé third at 6 seconds.
