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It is said that in the 14th century Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, led an expedition into the forests around what is now Karlovy Vary where they discovered by accident the hot springs for which the town is now famous. As the story goes, the water from the spring healed the King’s injured leg and it is from there the legend of the water’s restorative qualities began. Fast forward to the 2024 Karlovy Vary World Cup and it was Maya Kingma (NED) that enjoyed a similar story of rejuvenation.

After having surgery at the beginning of the year, her season has been a tale of building back to her best. A 7th place at the Paris Olympics gave a clear indicator of her form but Kingma went even better in Karlovy Vary. Perhaps there really was something in the water - as Charles IV first discovered - for Kingma showed her surgery and all prior complications are completely behind her with a win that will serve as a potent reminder to the triathlon world that the former WTCS race winner is back in business.

The top seeded women all opted for the left side of the pontoon as they faced Lake Rolava. Bianca Seregni (ITA) and Kingma led a pack of five that broke clear in the opening lap of the 1500m swim. Their advantage only grew over the second lap. Márta Kropkó (HUN), Emma Jeffcoat (AUS) and Sophia Howell (CAN) made up the rest of the lead quintet and Kropkó then performed a magic trick of a change in the first transition as to blink would have been to miss it. After a cagey start to the bike, Kingma and Kropkó broke away during the early stages of the bike, putting 30 seconds into their fellow swim leaders and the rest of the field firmly on the ropes. Before long, their lead exceeded a minute.

Further back, the main pack, which contained the likes of Anabel Knoll (GER), Gina Sereno (USA) and Verena Steinhauser (ITA) managed to organise themselves and swept up the remaining three swim leaders. By the end of the second lap around town, however, they stood over 90 seconds in arrears of the lead duo. It was thus two against twelve and by the midpoint of the bike the only conclusion to take was that the two were winning.

Petra Kurikova (CZE) gave the home crowds a boost, one that they returned with their support, as she hit the front of the chase pack. The leaders, though, continued to extend their gap. When the chasers eventually arrived into T2, Kingma and Kropkó were 3 minutes up the road. As a result, two races unfolded on the run: the battle for gold and the fight for bronze.

In terms of the former, Kingma had been in this position before whereas Kropkó was deep into what was already by far the best performance of her fledgling career. That greater experience of the Dutch athlete told as she moved serenely through T2 and the first part of the run. Her Hungarian rival was in no mood to throw in the towel but Kingma’s class quickly told as she pulled away. Further back, in the latter race, Sereno, Seregni and Kurikova were the front runners for 3rd place while Maria Tomé (POR) remained in contention. At the start of the second of the four run laps, Kurikova edged into a slight lead. Despite resistance from Sereno, Kurikova then extracted further seconds in her quest for bronze throughout the 10km run.

Through her determination, Kurikova even slowly wrenched the race for silver open as she pulled within half a minute of Kropkó with a lap to go. Kropkó battled heroically but after all of her work could not stave off the Czech athlete. There was further heartbreak for the Hungarian as Sereno flew past her in the final kilometre to snatch away the bronze medal behind Kurikova. Meanwhile, Kingma was simply unstoppable. She cruised to the win and was able to enjoy her sun-lit moment on the blue carpet. Such was her influence over the race, it is fair to say that on the morning after the Karlovy Vary Festival of Light concluded one triathlete shone brighter than all others.

What they had to say

Maya Kingma: “It was absolutely terrific. I think we already had a good swim with Seregni of course, and we had a group of five. On the way to get to the city there’s also some hills and I felt like if we’re not going to ride then I’m not going to pull the ones that don’t want to ride so I attacked on the first hill on the water and only Márta really came with me. She was amazing, like how we worked together and how we rode. I didn’t expect it to happen like that but it was great!”

Petra Kurikova: “Finally in Karlovy Vary so I’m very happy with that! It’s after the Olympics so maybe I’m feeling a little bit tired physically and mentally so I am so happy to take a silver medal here in Karlovy Vary.”

Gina Sereno: “That was so fun! That was such a cool course. The hill is insane and you really feel it going up five, six, seven times. I couldn’t see them (Kingma and Kropkó on the bike), they were so far away! They rode so hard and so they were completely out of the picture, so finding the strength to still stay in the race was really hard, but there were so many people around in the pack it was really motivational.”