Xinyu Lin wins the Beijing World Cup in the rain as Chinese triathletes take two historic medals

China’s Xinyu Lin won the Beijing World Triathlon Cup at Yanqi Lake on 17 October, pulling away from Hungary’s Márta Kropkó in the final 150 metres to win in 2:00:33. World Triathlon described it as China’s first ever World Cup win.

Earlier the same morning, Switzerland’s Max Studer won the men’s race in 1:48:22, nine seconds ahead of China’s Xirui Zhang. According to World Triathlon, Zhang’s silver was his first World Cup podium and the first by a Chinese man.

The Olympic-distance races, on a new course north of the city, were the tenth stop of the 2026 World Cup and the first top-level racing in Beijing for 15 years, World Triathlon said. Each winner earned 500 points towards the LA28 Olympic ranking.

A breakaway of seven in a downpour

The rain grew heavier through the morning, and by the women’s race the roads were waterlogged and full of potholes, World Triathlon reported.

Kropkó led the swim. Six others went with her onto the bike: Lin, Great Britain’s Kate Waugh, Italy’s Angelica Prestia, New Zealand’s Brea Roderick, Japan’s Manami Hayashi and France’s Mathilde Gautier. The seven worked together across all eight laps and reached the second transition more than a minute clear, according to Triathlon Today.

Gwen Jorgensen of the United States, wearing the number one bib, struggled in the cold and wet and finished 25th.

On the run Kropkó, racing in her swim goggles to protect her contact lenses from the rain, pushed until Waugh could no longer follow. Lin stayed on her shoulder and made her move on the blue carpet. Her 33:51 was the fastest run of the day.

Kropkó finished five seconds back in 2:00:38. A month earlier she had crossed the line fourth at the Championship Finals in Pontevedra, then was disqualified for mounting her bike too early. Waugh was third in 2:01:28, her second top-three finish in a row after third in Pontevedra. The 2022 under-23 world champion is still looking for her first World Cup win.

World Triathlon said Lin had won the Asian Games a month earlier, securing China a place in the women’s race at LA28. Anqi Huang made it two Chinese women in the top four, finishing fourth in 2:01:53.

Studer runs 30:00 to win in the wet

Rain began ten minutes before the men’s start. Hungary’s Márk Dévay led the swim, and a small group including Márton Kropkó, Morgan Pearson of the United States and Spain’s Alberto González got away early on the bike, leaving Studer and Britain’s Hugo Milner in the chase.

Studer and Darr Smith of the United States bridged across on the second lap, and by halfway the front group had about 15 riders. On the last lap Pearson slipped on a downhill corner and crashed, and he could not continue.

Studer, who has twice won WTCS Weihai, lost time in the second transition but soon joined González, Kropkó and Zhang at the front. He broke clear on the final lap and ran the fastest 10 km of the day, exactly 30:00. Zhang then dropped González, who took bronze in 1:48:39.

Zhang’s previous best result was second at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya a month earlier, World Triathlon said. Márton Kropkó, brother of the women’s runner-up, was fourth on his return from an injury at the season opener in Samarkand.

What comes next

Beijing was the first of four World Cup stops in Asia. Ranking points drop by 7.5 per cent for each place after the winner, so second place in either race was worth about 462 points towards LA28. That matters for Jorgensen: six American women sit in the ranking top 30, World Triathlon noted, and the United States has at most three Olympic places.