Third place for GB’s Kate Waugh as Laura Lindemann wins photo-finish World Tri race in Chengdu

Kate Waugh returned to short course racing with an impressive third place on the podium as the 2026 World Triathlon Cup circuit action moved to China.

The third stop of the 2026 World Triathlon Cup circuit delivered another instant classic in Chengdu’s Jintang District, this time in the women’s race. Germany’s Laura Lindemann — Paris 2024 Olympic mixed relay champion — edged out a photo finish for the ages, claiming victory ahead of AIN’s Valentina Riasova in a sprint so close it took officials several minutes to separate them. Great Britain’s Kate Waugh, returning to World Triathlon short course racing after her 2025 T100 World Title, completed the podium. 

A full field of 65 women started the race, and they delivered one of the tightest, most dramatic finishes in World Cup history. 

What happened in the swim

From the gun, two athletes announced themselves immediately. Hungary’s Fanni Szalai and France’s Mathilde Gautier proved to be the fastest swimmers of the day, opening a significant gap before the first buoy and taking an aggressive line on the return to the pontoon — hugging the left while the rest of the field went straight. Their gamble paid off handsomely: by the time they hit T1, the duo had built a lead of around 20 seconds over the chasers.

What happened on the bike

With Szalai emerging from transition fractionally ahead, she initially attempted to go solo on the bike. The 17-year-old quickly thought better of it, easing up to allow a large group to form behind her — a smart tactical decision that would keep her race alive deep into the run.

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Mirroring what had happened in the men’s race earlier in the day, the bike leg evolved rapidly into a large peloton. By the halfway point, the lead group had swelled to nearly 50 athletes riding together in a massive train, the collective priority being to stay safe, avoid crashes, and arrive at T2 with legs ready for the decisive 5km run. Almost all of the race favourites were present: Laura Lindemann (GER)…