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Portugal’s Joao Nuno Batista fulfilled his dream of matching his older brother’s feat of winning the World Triathlon Junior Championships on Thursday afternoon, pulling a momentous finish out of the fire of a three-way showdown with Nils Serre Gehri of France and Canada’s Mathis Beaulieu to surge to the tape and the 2023 title.

It had been a Hungarian masterclass for the first half of the race as Marton Kropko and Zalan Gabor pulled clear of the field along with Jack Crome (AUS) and Gregor Rasva (EST), only for them to be caught by the unreal firepower of that trio on the second of two laps of the 5km run, Batista eventually summoning the power to put in one final surge onto the blue carpet and into the history books.

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As 69 men lined up on Thursday afternoon in Hamburg preparing to dive into the Binnenalster Lake and get the 2023 Men’s Junior World Championships underway, the earlier rain had moved on, the sun come out and the action quickly heated up.

After just shy of 9 minutes in the water, Marton Kropko led USA’s Carter Stuhlmacher at the end of the 750m swim, Hobor, Rasva and Crome right with them into the first transition.

The American’s hesitance in transition cost him front-pack access, Australia’s Thomas Feldmann also missing out as the four early leaders began to pull clear, the gap suddenly 10 seconds to that pair, Japan’s Amu Omuro and Batista.

That distance was doubled by the end of lap two and again by the bell, 19 now chasing the four tearaways ahead including Chile’s Andree Buc and 2022 champion Thomas Hansmaennel (FRA) alongside Serre, Beaulieu and Batista, a further 29 athletes just seconds back and also giving chase, Sweden’s Oscar Lilja and Poland’s Kuba Gajda among them.

It was Hobor and Crome with short-lived advantage out onto the run, Kropko and Rasza soon back on them and then the two Hungarians were away, Hobor setting the pace just as he had in Tiszaujvaros the weekend before.

It wasn’t long before Crome and Rasva were hooverd up by the marauding Beaulieu and Serre, Batista marginally more patient but all three then quickly up on the Hungarians and past the fading Hobor to the front.

There followed a three-way cat and mouse for 2.5km, during which each made their plays at breaking their rivals only for each to be answered until the final dice roll by Batista coming down the ramp into the grandstand, the turnover rapid, the impact immediate. The Portuguese talent soared down the blue carpet to take the tape, Serre out-pacing Beaulieu to the silver while Hansmaennel crossed in fourth ahead of Mexico’s Osvaldo Darell Zuniga Fierro.