Mario Mola, triple world champion, and Barcelona's Anna Godoy won this Saturday the I ProTour triathlon, which was played in Pontevedra and was resolved with two laps final paths to a circuit of 250 meters of swimming, 7.2 kilometers by bicycle and 1.2 more on foot.
Mola won ahead of Vigo Antonio Serrat and another Galician, Javier Gómez Noya , the only five-time world champion in history; while the silver and bronze in the test that Godoy won were for New Zealand's Anneke Jenkins and Carolina Routier from Girona, respectively.
The triathlon, one of the sports that has given more success to Spain so far this century, celebrated its particular National Party in a test that successfully debuted in the circuit located in the area of the Lérez River, the Bridge of the Braces, the Avenue of Buenos Aires and the Pazo da Cultura of the aforementioned Galician town.
Initially planned for two days, the yellow alert activated for this Sunday - due to the threat of heavy downpours - motivated the compression of the program in a single day, with two morning semifinals that each granted ten direct seats for the evening finals, which entered also the four best times of the qualifiers.
Iván Raña , the first Spaniard to win a Triathlon World Cup (the one in 2002, in the Mexican town of Cancun) - which completed a luxury cartel (nine golds) with Mola and Gómez Noya; and that raised up to 22 medals in the World Cup the Fernando Alarza talaverano (bronze in 2016) - he did not get the pass to the final, by staying at a tenth of the fourth best time that he was replacing for the decisive act.
The Galician genius, 40, who dedicated the last seven to long distance and the Ironman; and who is coming out of a tendon injury that forced him to stop the past three months, he did everything he could. In an explosive test, sponsored by the federation presided by José Hidalgo, with a fun format and added interest provided by the 6,000 euros reserved for both winners.
Mola entered the final by dominating the first semifinal, ahead of Gómez Noya - who by capturing bronze last World Cup raised his medal collection to eleven in those championships; while Alarza did the same in the second, which ended almost at the same time as Serrat. Afterwards, the Mallorcan champion, who will close his season next weekend in an Olympic distance test in Beijing, dominated the final without excessive problems.
Previously, Barcelona's Anna Godoy, with a foot and a half in the Tokyo 2020 Games, won a more than tight sprint to New Zealand's Anneke Jenkins, the wife of Javier Gómez Noya, who did not hesitate to indicate Efe online goal that "without a doubt" sees the Galician star - also quadruple European and silver champion at the London 2012 Games - capturing gold next year in the Olympic test to be held in the Japanese capital.
Jenkins, who won the test of the Spanish championship in A Coruña last Saturday, after finishing second, the ilicitana Tamara Gómez, could not contain Godoy's final blow - which will leave happy on Tuesday to Asia, where she will compete in two tests of the World Cup, in South Korea and Japan - but relegated to the third place to Girona Routier.
'Carol', more and more recovered from the serious accident she suffered in April 2018 -when she was hit by a car while training her bike in her native Banyoles- finished a test in which Barcelona's Sara Pérez, winner of the second semifinal, it was fourth.
Behind her came Tamara Gómez, brand new champion of Spain, who was fifth. In a final in which the Guipuzcoan Ainhoa Murúa, next to the Swiss Nicola Spirig -oro (London 2012) and Olympic silver (Rio de Janeiro 2016) -, unique with four Olympic participations and that at 41 years has returned to compete after having been a mother, was eliminated before the last segment of the second route.
As in the semifinal, Gómez Noya was choked to enter the first buoy in the first swim segment; So the iron man of the Spanish sport did the test from less to more, in a format that is not by far the one that suits him best, and in which, as he told Efe in the finish zone, "he did not expect get on the podium. "
Mola controlled from beginning to end and won without problems the I ProTour, which ended up overflowing with happiness another who will travel next week to Asia, the 24-year-old Antonio Serrat, from Vigo, and whose injuries prevented him from shining brighter this season: not everything The days are just ahead of the best triathlete in history and within walking distance of a triple world champion.
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