Waugh The Winner That Takes It All In The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Decider
Lusail, Qatar: Great Britain’s Kate Waugh claimed the victory she needed – and craved – in the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final today in Lusail.
Waugh had led the T100 Race To Qatar rankings going into the title decider and knew a victory would seal the season-long crown – and her first ever World Championship in the sport. Not to mention a series first prize of $200,000 USD.
Slowing to a walk through exhaustion in the final straight and then stumbling to her knees as she crossed the line, Waugh had given it absolutely everything to get the job done.
But she was simply not to be denied by title rivals Julie Derron, who’s run wasn’t quite on top form, and saw her finish third; and Lucy Charles-Barclay, who lost ground on the leaders on her run, to finish fifth.
Season Finish
| Position | Name | Series points | Prize Money |
| 1 | K Waugh | 183 | $200,000 |
| 2 | J Derron | 163 | $170,000 |
| 3 | L Charles-Barclay | 152 | $150,000 |
| 4 | A Gentle | 137 | $120,000 |
| 5 | J Learmonth | 120 | $110,000 |
| 6 | E Salthouse | 97 | $90,000 |
| 7 | G Taylor-Brown | 90 | $85,000 |
| 8 | T Knibb | 90 | $80,000 |
| 9 | L Byram | 89 | $75,000 |
| 10 | H Lawrence | 85 | $70,000 |
| 11 | H Berry | 85 | $50,000 |
| 12 | T Spivey | 75 | $45,000 |
| 13 | L Perterer | 71 | $40,000 |
| 14 | P Findlay | 66 | $35,000 |
| 15 | I Lee | 61 | $30,000 |
| 16 | S Pérez Sala | 58 | $28,000 |
| 17 | H De Vet | 56 | $26,000 |
| 18 | C Pohle | 54 | $24,000 |
| 19 | G Thek | 52 | $22,000 |
| 20 | M McDonald | 39 | $20,000 |
Key Quotes
Winner: Kate Waugh (GBR)
“Oh my gosh, that was the most dramatic way to win the world title. I’ve always been a bit of a drama queen, so perhaps that was the best way to win it I guess. I’m completely overwhelmed with emotion right now. I do not want to see those finish line photos!”
“That had it all. It was just hard from start to finish. I think I cried a bit on the bike, I just was suffering so much and obviously there was the drama with the water stations and I was getting angry. My dad said to me at one point “Okay just channel that anger” so I set off on the run and didn’t look back. Going onto the last lap I felt the floor starting to tilt a bit and I was like “oh I’m in trouble now” I just held it together and then Georgia was putting me under pressure and I luckily just got across the line.”
“It hurt so much, mentally, emotionally…it’s December now and I’ve never raced this late in the year. I’m tired but I told myself I’m going to enjoy my holiday so much more if I just give it one last push. I’m completely overwhelmed with emotion and I’m so grateful to the T100 for this opportunity and I’m buzzing.”
“I also want to give a shoutout to Lucy Charles-Barclay and Julie Derron. They literally pushed me right to the line and I think we made for an epic battle. I’m grateful to them and kudos to them.”
Second: Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
“I just needed a 21-race build up to get me ready! I don’t know, it’s my last one and my aim was to have a good swim and I really fought on the swim. It’s really hard at the front. I had a good swim, I got out with the front girls. I lost the front girls on the bike but we didn’t lose too much time so I was happy. I am happy to lose in these races, so I just go for it and see what happens.”
“I think that’s what I have done this year – just race myself to fitness. I mean I was getting close to Kate but also I thought I can’t pass her, she’s about to win, it would be really mean for me to pass her now. But I didn’t get there anyway. When I was running with Julie I just sat on her shoulder and then I took a chance, I went and I didn’t look back and hoped she wasn’t feeling better than me.”
“Not difficult at all! It’s going to be very very easy. This week staying at the Ritz I feel like I’m on holiday already. I’m definitely ready for this break now.”
Third: Julie Derron (SUI)
“That was tough. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden that hard too. I knew I had to push the pace and keep the gap as small as possible coming off the bike. I’m a bit disappointed that my run strength didn’t really show through today. But to come away second in the world, it’s amazing. I feel like it’s the closest I’ve ever come to a World Championship title. It gives me a little bit of fire for next year.”
“I was hanging on to the girls around me – they were super strong – and I knew that I had to just try and stay there to, as I said, minimise the gap coming off the bike. To my coach, we discussed a gap of three minutes I could run down if I had my day. I came pretty close so I can’t be disappointed.”
“I think I can relax a bit now, I’ve been on the road for a long time so I’m looking forward to heading home for Christmas and of course building up for next year. At the beginning of this year I just wanted to do the season and see how it ends up and to come away with a podium again at the end of the year, one step higher than last year, I guess the only way is up next year.”
“I won two races this year which is amazing. Looking back I can be so happy with my year and I’ll take that as motivation for next year.”
“We do have a worthy World Champion, Kate was super consistent this year. She showed up when it counted the most so congrats to her. Of course, to Lucy as well to pushing the pace all the season and to everyone else racing. And thanks to you for commentating. I think we’re all thankful to everyone.”
Fifth: Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
“I’m definitely happy it’s over. It’s been a great year, I would have liked to finish a bit stronger than that but I’m happy I made it to the finish line and made it to the off-season. I can celebrate that!”
“I feel like I was obviously on the back off a really big high and then I was trying to knuckle down and do those last few weeks of training. Obviously we’re leading into the festive period so it’s hard to do that but I feel like I definitely did the best I could. I think that kind of showed today, that was all I had left to give. I’ve got to be happy with it.”
“I’m definitely buzzing about that [not having to go for a long run on Xmas morning], I think I’ll be enjoying all of the festive food and re-fuelling hopefully for another big year next year.”
HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED
T100 series contender Lucy Charles-Barclay led the 2km swim, leaving the water in 26:25, fronting a lead group of eight that included fellow Briton Kate Waugh – 1st in Race To Qatar standings – along with Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown. Meanwhile, another pre-race favorite – Switzerland’s Julie Derron – exited the water 1:24 behind.
After a fast T1, Waugh led early on the 80km bike before Learmonth and then Charles-Barclay joined her – creating an all-British front trio. By 15km, the top five were exclusively British, with India Lee and Taylor-Brown the only other athletes within 1 minute of the lead. After seeming to struggle on the last bike lap, Waugh eventually surged in the final 5km to enter T2 first.
Showing another lightning transition, Waugh took a 17-second lead out onto the 18km run, while Derron started the run in 6th place, 1:44 behind. By the 5km mark, Waugh led Charles-Barclay by 48 seconds, with Taylor-Brown (+1:21) and Derron (+1:41) chasing hard to come up onto the Brit’s shoulder. That pair then ran together, overtaking Charles-Barclay and in the final lap, Taylor-Brown broke away from Derron to close within 45 seconds of the lead with 1500m to go.
Despite Taylor-Brown’s late charge, Waugh was alone going into the finish straight, grabbing the tape full of emotion and exhaustion to win the Race To Qatar and become the 2025 T100 Triathlon World Champion in a time of 3:31:30. The Brit takes $25,000 for the win and a huge $200,000 world champion bonus.
Taylor-Brown was 2nd, moving herself up 10 places to 7th in the final T100 Race To Qatar Standings, worth $85,000 in addition to $17,000 for the race itself.
Derron’s 3rd place secured 2nd overall in the T100 Standings and a prize purse of $170,000 along with $13,000 for the last podium spot.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Ellie Salthouse managed to overhaul Charles-Barclay and take 4th place, moving her up 5 spots in the T100 Standings, worth $90,000.
Charles-Barclay rounded out the top-5, finishing 3rd overall in the standings and earning $150,000 in bonus money.
Race Finish
| Position | Athlete | Finish | T100 Race To Qatar Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | K Waugh | 3:31:30 | 55 | $25,000 |
| 2 | G Taylor-Brown | 3:31:50 | 46 | $17,000 |
| 3 | J Derron | 3:32:31 | 41 | $13,000 |
| 4 | E Salthouse | 3:34:51 | 37 | $10,500 |
| 5 | L Charles-Barclay | 3:35:08 | 33 | $9,000 |
| 6 | A Gentle | 3:35:30 | 30 | $8,000 |
| 7 | H Lawrence | 3:36:27 | 27 | $7,000 |
| 8 | J Learmonth | 3:36:46 | 24 | $6,000 |
| 9 | S Pérez Sala | 3:37:14 | 21 | $5,000 |
| 10 | C Pohle | 3:37:19 | 18 | $4,500 |
| 11 | L Byram | 3:37:45 | 16 | $4,000 |
| 12 | H Berry | 3:38:39 | 14 | $3,500 |
| 13 | L Perterer | 3:39:04 | 12 | $3,000 |
| 14 | L Rayner | 3:40:09 | 10 | $2,500 |
| 15 | T Spivey | 3:40:48 | 9 | $2,000 |
| 16 | I Lee | 3:42:05 | 8 | $1,500 |
| 17 | I Simmonds | 3:43:02 | 7 | $1,250 |
| 18 | G Thek | 3:44:33 | 6 | $1,000 |
| 19 | M McDonald | 3:45:00 | 5 | $750 |
| 20 | K Kivioja | 3:45:37 | 4 | $500 |
| 21 | D Diederiks | 3:46:25 | 2 | $500 |
| 22 | L Bissig | 3:47:54 | 2 | $500 |
| 23 | E Visser | 3:56:19 | 2 | $500 |
| 24 | H De Vet | 3:59:54 | 2 | $500 |
