World Championship gold in mixed relay for Tim Hellwig
Der Triathlet des HYLO® Team Saar hat bei den HAMBURG WASSER World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships powered by SUZUKI die Goldmedaille im Mixed-Relay-Wettbewerb der Elite gewonnen
The Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg (13 to 16 July 2023) came to an end last Sunday with a gold medal for Germany as the crowning glory. In this home World Championships for the sprint distance, the athletes of the Deutsche Triathlon Union (DTU) provided outstanding performances in all competitions across the four days.
As well as some top placings and a bronze medal for Laura Lindemann in the elite individual race, plus a gold for the German U23 juniors in the mixed relay, Sunday (16 July 2023) also served as the championship highlight for the German mixed relay foursome. Tim Hellwig from HYLO® Team Saar, Annika Koch, Simon Henseleit and Laura Lindemann won the gold medal in the elite relay at the HAMBURG WASSER World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships powered by SUZUKI with a strong overall performance.
Over the super-sprint distance, after four rounds each involving a 300-metre swim, 7-kilometre cycle and 1.75-kilometre run, the German team secured the 2023 world championship title for the mixed relay in magnificent style with a total time of 1:22:08 hours, 19 seconds ahead of the New Zealand team and 27 seconds ahead of Switzerland.
Tim Hellwig laid the foundations for the team’s success with his strong performance as the starter, handing over to Annika Koch with the leading trio. Thanks to a top performance by the whole team, they further extended their position in the leading group and ultimately ended with a comfortable lead of around 20 seconds that resulted a triumphant run in the last few minutes of the race for Lindemann and the whole team, who were waiting jubilant at the finish line. This is Germany’s first World Championship title in the exciting and fast-paced relay format since 2013, which was won by Anne Haug, Anja Knapp, Franz Löschke and Jan Frodeno.
This success in the 2023 World Championships has also secured Germany a place in the relay event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The top triathlete from Saarland and current 2023 German Championship runner-up won his starting place in the relay during the individual competition the day before. As the best German triathlete, Tim Hellwig came a magnificent eighth in the World Championship elite individual final on Saturday (15 July 2023).
Tim Hellwig direkt für den Finaltag qualifiziert
In the first World Championships in Hamburg using the ‘Eliminator’ format, a super-sprint competition with a 300-metre swim, 7.5-kilometre cycle and 1.6-kilometre run, the U23 World Championship runner-up (2021) qualified directly for the final day thanks to a first-place finish in his heat on the Friday (14 July 2023). In two further rounds on the Saturday, the DTU athlete battled for the World Championship title through to the final competition with the top ten athletes. By coming eighth in the Triathlon World Championships in the final run, Tim Hellwig achieved the goal he set himself of a top-ten finish and thus kept his chances alive for a ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The other DTU squad athletes from HYLO® Team Saar were also able to achieve respectable results at the 2023 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Hamburg.
Despite an unlucky fall in the first heat for Lasse Nygaard-Priester, the newly crowned German champion was able to qualify for the final day in the sprint distance via the repechage race. Finishing 24th in the first of the three final rounds, by his own admission he was not able to put in his best race when he needed it in order to achieve his high ambitions. Valentin Wernz also reached the final day via the repechage race on the Friday evening, and gained a remarkable World Championship result by getting through to the second final round and ultimately finishing 18th.
There is not much time left for the triathletes of the DTU national squad and HYLO® Team Saar to celebrate their fantastic results at their home World Championships in Hamburg, or to recover from the exertions of these demanding title races.
The next season highlight for the Saarland triathletes is coming up on Sunday (23 July 2023): the fourth race of the season will be held in Tübingen as part of the 1. Bitburger 0,0% Triathlon-Bundesliga. Boosted by an impressive stage victory in the third race of the season during the FINALS 2023 in Düsseldorf, the HYLO® Team Saar is heading to the university city on the Neckar with plenty of motivation and optimism. With only one point separating them from the top favourites EJOT-Team TV Buschhütten in the table, the fight is on for the German Team Championship, promising an exciting battle between the top teams.
We are looking forward to other highlights from Tim Hellwig and his teammates on HYLO® Team Saar and wish them every success for their upcoming races.
