- Taylor Knibb produced a dominant performance to win the inaugural world title
- The 100km course saw athletes complete a 2km swim, 80km cycle and 18km run
- Knibb earned £166,191 for winning the race and £245,330 in total in the series
A triathlon runner made the shocking admission that she had soiled herself on the way to winning the inaugural T100 Triathlon World Championship crown.
Taylor Knibb put together the perfect race with flawless swimming, cycling and running legs in Dubai to make it four wins from four race starts and pocket around £245,330 in prize money.
Knibb dominated the rest of the course in the series, and took £166,191 for winning the competition, adding to the £79,139 she earned for wins in each of the four races at San Francisco, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas and Dubai.
The course sees runners take on a huge 100km – 2km swim, 80km cycle and 18km run to finish off – under the baking heat of the Dubai sun, and is not for the faint-hearted which only goes to further amplify just how impressive Knibb’s dominance has been.
But the win came at a cost, as Knibb admitted towards the end to securing her stunning clean sweep in Dubai, finishing nearly two minutes clear of second place.
WARNING: Below clip contains explicit language
World champion triathlete Taylor Knibb revealed to cameras that she had ‘s*** herself’ during the race
As she approached the finish line on the running stage with just 2.3km to go, Knibb – who won a second Olympic silver medal in Paris in the mixed event – turned to one of the cameras filming the race to make the surprise admission.
‘I just s*** myself,’ she told the cameras, ‘so can you not get my a**?’
Knibb practically flew through the course, finishing the gruelling 100km ordeal in 3:29.17, with second-place Julie Derron crossing the line in 3:31.08 behind the American.
Knibb came into the race with Swiss athlete Derron and Australian Ashleigh Gentle as her biggest rivals, and the two chasers remained within striking distance near the head of the pack during the swimming leg.
The American in fact dropped down a few places in the changeover from swim to bike, but was soon up and running in typically dominant form, and stretched the lead, and by the 65km point she had 1min 37s on her rivals.
By the end of the cycling element Knibb was as much as 2min 46sec ahead, which was incredible her narrowest leading margin at this point in any of the four races of the series.
Gentle impressively somehow began to reel in Knibb but began to hit the wall and after closing the gap to 50s she slowed up and was reportedly forced to a walk and held her stomach.
As Knibb’s closest competitor began to slow it paved the way for Knibb to secure her fourth stunning victory from four in incredible form, and her shock admission prior to crossing the line highlights just how much of a physical toll the 100km race took on her body.
Knibb was part of the USA team that twice won silver in the mixed triathlon at the Olympics
Prior to the race even beginning though, Knibb was feeling far from 100 per cent, as she revealed having secured first place and the inaugural world championship title.
‘I woke up and messaged my coach that I just feel rough, and I’m like, «Oh, this is going to be a bad day,» said Knibb.
‘So, I was kind of shocked! It only came together in the last 3km when everyone else fell apart, but it was very step-by-step. That was brutal out there, so have fun men! [who raced the following day]’
The American added: ‘I think my dad was more nervous today than me… I was like, «Oh wow, you’re really nervous, like it’s kind of spreading…»
‘But I have a fantastic team of individuals and then I have a lot of sponsors and so it’s just a huge team effort and I’m very grateful for everyone who supports me and believes in me.’
