By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat
Kate Waugh laid down a marker with an historic victory in the T100 Triathlon opener in Singapore as she claimed the biggest win in the history of the event.
The 26-year-old was in the form of her life as she won by six minutes and 41 seconds, the largest winning margin ever in T100, to cap a remarkable debut.
Five athletes were in the lead group at the end of the swim, before Jess Learmonth made a big move on the 80km bike leg.
Waugh bided her time behind her compatriot, who set the early pace to open up a considerable lead by the end of the bike.
Only Waugh was able to stay in touch with her, with the rest of the field more than three minutes back.
When Learmonth then started to suffer from cramps, Waugh seized her opportunity and pulled clear on the 18km run and no one could live with her.
Waugh said: “I’m over the moon, I’ve got goosebumps right now. It was just an incredible day, just one of those days where everything seemed to go right and I’m absolutely buzzing. I’m just so grateful to be here and I felt so lucky to be able to enjoy that last kilometre because the support in Singapore was incredible.
“Life as a professional athlete can definitely be a roller coaster. I went through some low moments last year where I genuinely didn’t know I even wanted to do the sport anymore. So to come back here and get the biggest win in my career was a really special moment.
“It’s definitely kind of re-lit a fire in my heart and I’m just so grateful. I prioritised the aid stations and ran with a bottle for pretty much 18km, took my time through that and I think it really paid off. It was very hot.”
An incredible performance ????
Kate Waugh, on T100 debut, smashes the field by over 6 minutes to win the Singapore T100! pic.twitter.com/eAwee5BHDO
— T100 Triathlon World Tour (@t100triathlon) April 5, 2025
Given her inexperience at competing over this distance, it was a hugely impressive performance from Waugh, who finished the event in 3:45:18, with Austrian wildcard Lisa Perterer in second, and fellow Brit, Lucy Charles-Barclay in third, a further minute and 11 seconds back.
For Waugh, the hope is that this can be the launchpad for more success, even if he admitted that the effort had taken a lot out of her.
She added: “There were times where I was only about halfway through the run and I thought ‘Oh my goodness, this is really savage’, but I stuck to my game plan and it paid off. I was just trying to keep (Jess) in sight and I was confident in my run fitness going into this. It’s twice as long and felt twice as brutal… but I’m excited to learn more and hopefully grow and develop more as a T100 athlete.”
The second season of the 9-leg T100 Triathlon World Tour starts in Singapore this weekend. Watch the world’s best female and male triathletes race live on Eurosport across Europe and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, or on PTO+ from anywhere. The women start at 0715 UK on Saturday 5 April; the men start at 0815 UK on Sunday 6 April. More information at www.T100Triathlon.com
