It was smiles all round in Edinburgh as local girl, Catriona Morrison, took home gold in the GE ITU Duathlon World Championships on Sunday. There was plenty of gold sparkling over the weekend with more success for Great Britain in the women’s team event and the Under 23 category.

It was Gwen Jorgensen (USA) who took the lead in the first run but Morrison was quick to form a lead as they started the seven lap bike course around Arthur’s Seat. It was the Scot and Sandra Levenez of France who dominated the cycle, Levenez eventually pulling away leaving Morriosn with two laps to go.

In the last 5km run, however, she found form again and broke away, crossing the finishing line in 2:02.48 and celebrating her fourth world title. Speaking after the race Morrison said of Levenez, “I was hoping her legs were more trashed than mine. It feels pretty good to be World Champion!”

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Related stories:

Sportsister talk to the Duathlete Catriona Morrison ^[1]

Duathlon: Great Britain secure silver and bronze at ETU Duathlon European Championships ^[2]

Getting started - Duathlon ^[3]

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Morrison was joined by Katie Ingram and Sophie Coleman in the team event and raced to victory ahead of USA (silver) and Japan (bronze). Ingram had come sixth in the individual race and Coleman gained her second gold of the Championships in the Under 23 category.

Coleman was the World Junior Championship Champion in 2008 and 2009 and this year saw a seamless transition to the next age group. Team mate Lois Rosindale took silver who started strong but dropped a water bottle on the bike leg, causing her to dehydrate. Alice Capone of Italy took bronze.

Elinor Thorogood just missed out on a medal position in the junior women’s, finishing just 40 seconds behind Liis-grete Arro of Estonia.

Kirsty Page, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

Image credit: Iain Mackintosh