Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report ITU World Triathlon, London Welcome to the fourth Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report of 2015, a new series initiated by Columbia Threadneedle Investments which will be distributed after each ITU World Triathlon Series Event. The Report will review the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings and results to identify trends and spot interesting statistics and stories as the 2015 season develops. Women’s Review Once again, we have to start with Gwen Jorgensen! Another Gwensanity masterclass in London from the reigning ITU World Champion and Columbia Threadneedle Rankings leader was her tenth consecutive WTS victory. She now matches the career WTS medals record of Australia’s Emma Moffat with 16 in total, 13 of those being victories. This latest win was also a milestone in terms of defending her World Championship title. With five wins already in 2015, Gwen will have the maximum number of rankings points possible (4000), when she races at the Chicago Grand Final. In the our first report after the Gold Coast event we highlighted that the U.S. women’s podium sweep in Australia was, at that point, only the second time in WTS history that one country had filled all of the podium spots in one race. Well, in London they did it again, and with the same three athletes too. Joining Jorgensen on the podium, this time around Katie Zaferes was able to get the better of Sarah True for the Silver medal. It’s a remarkable run of U.S. consistency which has resulted in the Stars and Stripes earning 12 of the 18 women’s medals awarded in WTS events this season. In any normal year Gwen Jorgensen would have an enormous lead in the rankings thanks to her five wins, but with four second places and one third from her five race starts to date, Katie Zaferes has an impressive 3645 points herself. Unlike Jorgensen, with three further WTS events ahead of the Chicago Grand Final, she also has scope to potentially improve her points standing too if she can finish in the top two in Hamburg, Stockholm or Edmonton. With a deficit of 355 points currently, were Zaferes to win the Grand Final, she would be World Champion if Gwen finished outside of the top five. The London event also represented a super day for Canada. A winner on the London course in 2010, Paula Findlay’s eighth place was her best WTS finish since winning in Kitzbuhel four years ago. That result has also impacted her ranking position positively, gaining 22 places from 56th to 34th. Paula was joined by compatriot Amelie Kretz who crossed the line ninth. That’s the first time that Canada has secured two top ten finishes in the same WTS event since Sydney 2011. We have mentioned the improving 2015 performances of Ireland’s Aileen Reid in previous reports, and that form line proven to be a good one. Fourth place in London means that she has improved her finishing position in all five of her races this season and is now up to sixth position in the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings. If she can continue this run, the next step for her is the podium. The biggest move up the rankings after London was from Belgium’s Katrien Verstuyft. Like Aileen Reid, Verstuyft has improved in every race she has done this year too (43rd / 40th / 36th / 18th), and jumps 25 places from 81st to 56th thanks to her efforts in Hyde Park. Great Britain’s 20 year old Sophie Coldwell had a day to remember. Fourth place in the World Junior Championship in 2014, Coldwell was making her debut in the World Triathlon Series on home soil. After a strong swim and cycle which saw her in the leading group of seven at T2, a fast transition saw the young Brit first out on to the run course. Though she couldn’t keep pace with her more experienced competition on the run and would finish 27th, that was an impressive start to her senior career. Men’s Review Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee has been the benchmark against which all other athletes are measured since he went through the 2009 season unbeaten in all five events he competed in, to take his first senior ITU World Championship title. His dominating performance in London this year just adds further to his incredibly impressive statistics, which now read as 19 wins and 23 medals in total from just 29 WTS starts. His victory was his third WTS win on the Hyde Park course, to which he can also add his 2012 Olympic Games triumph. He is now up to fifth place in the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings despite having only raced three times so far this season. He’ll be looking for at least two good results from Hamburg, Stockholm and Edmonton to challenge current leader Javier Gomez in what could be a very close battle for World Championship honours at the Grand Final in Chicago. With Javier Gomez absent in London and Mario Mola finishing outside of the top ten, the Spanish headlines this time around go to Fernando Alarza. He has been incredibly consistent this year, never finishing below eighth position despite having raced in all six events. London represented an important breakthrough for Fernando though as second place was the first WTS podium of his career. Though still third in the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings to Gomez and Mola, he is now just 18 points behind Mario. The Bronze medallist in London, Vincent Luis, is another who has maintained consistency at the highest level this season. He has raced three times and finished on the podium in every race. As with the women, Canada can take some comfort from the men’s results too. The tenth place finish from youngster Tyler Mislawchuk was the best result so far in his short senior career and also the first top ten from a Canadian man in the World Triathlon Series for more than two years. The South African men can also be content with their London performance. While Richard Murray will be disappointed not to have matched his second place in 2014, he can take consolation that having started the 5km outside of the top 20 at T2, a race-best 14:12 run split took him all the way up to fifth place. His countryman Henri Schoeman – who was in the breakaway group during the swim and bike – finished seventh, the first time the South African men have earned two top ten finishes in the same WTS race for over two years. Winner of World Championship titles at Junior and Under-23 level respectively over the past two seasons, France’s Dorian Coninx had by far his best result of the season in London. Sixth place in London represents his best WTS finish to date and also makes him the biggest rankings mover after London, climbing 32 places from 57th to 25th. The next stop on the World Triathlon Series is Hamburg, Germany on July 18th over the sprint distance, and the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report will be back then to bring you all the insights from the Series. Columbia Threadneedle Rankings following ITU World Triathlon, London Women 1st – Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 4000 2nd – Katie Zaferes (USA) 3645 3rd – Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2910 4th – Sarah True (USA) 2632 5th – Barbara Riveros (CHI) 2100 6th – Aileen Reid (IRL) 2078 7th – Emma Moffat (AUS) 1710 8th – Vendula Frintova (CZE) 1414 9th – Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 1387 10th – Vicky Holland (GBR) 1386 Biggest rankings mover: Katrien Verstuyft (BEL) – from 81st to 56th (265 points) Highest new entry to rankings: Sophie Corbridge (NZL) – 51st (367 points) Men 1st – Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) 3507 2nd – Mario Mola (ESP) 2979 3rd – Fernando Alarza (ESP) 2961 4th – Richard Murray (RSA) 2490 5th – Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 2340 6th – Ryan Bailie (AUS) 2305 7th – Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 2186 8th – Vincent Luis (FRA) 2110 9th – Crisanto Grajales (MEX) 2015 10th – Sven Riederer (SUI) 1750 Biggest rankings mover: Dorian Coninx (FRA) – from 57th to 25th (739 points) Highest new entry to rankings: Ryan Fisher (AUS) – 73rd (133 points) The full Columbia Threadneedle Rankings can be accessed at: http://wts.triathlon.org/ColumbiaThreadneedleRankings This report is brought to you by Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Global Financial Services partner of the ITU World Triathlon Series. Join the conversation on twitter with @CTinvest_tri or by using #CT_Rankings. Media Contacts: Erin Greene, ITU Media Manager Email: [email protected] Mobile: +34 645 216 509 Notes to Editors About the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings: The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings are used to determine the best performing triathletes across the ITU World Triathlon Series. An athlete’s final score will be obtained by adding the points gained in the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final plus the 5 best scores in the ITU World Triathlon Series events and the ITU Triathlon World Cup events. A maximum of two ITU Triathlon World Cup events scores will count for the final rankings. Click here for the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Series Criteria. About Columbia Threadneedle Investments Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset management group that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage (£341 billion / €471 billion / US$ 506 billion) 1 of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., a leading US-based financial services provider.