(Reuters) – Leonie Periault claimed a stunning victory at the Yokohama World Triathlon Championship Series on Saturday, finishing 36 seconds clear of the U.S.’s Taylor Knibb in second place and 40 seconds ahead of fellow Frenchwoman Emma Lombardi, who took bronze.
Periault, 29, sealed the second World Triathlon Championship Series gold of her career with a winning time of 01:52:28. She will join 22-year-old Lombardi at their home Games.
Knibb had already booked her place with a top-eight finish at the Paris test event in August last year. American Taylor Spivey missed out on the Olympic spot by finishing fourth while team mate Kirsten Kasper was fifth.
Rio Games and double world champion Gwen Jorgensen came in 15th, while the reigning Olympic champion, Flora Duffy, made a strong comeback after battling injury by securing seventh place.
Knibb set a challenging pace in the swim segment and Duffy made a significant comeback during the cycling leg, which saw Dutch Maya Kingma fall behind with a puncture at the end of lap four.
Once on the running course, Periault was unmatched. Lombardi managed to keep pace the longest but eventually fell back.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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