Saxon Morgan’s 27th didn’t exactly light up the result sheet but given the pre-race context, it was a quietly encouraging start to the Kiwi’s Olympic qualification campaign
After battling strep throat, another virus and six weeks of interrupted training, the 25-year-old emerged from WTCS Alghero on Saturday having swum with the leaders, ridden in the front group before producing a measured run in a chaotic race.
On a day when crashes eliminated both Olympic champion Alex Yee and reigning world champion Matthew Hauser, that represented meaningful progress.
Morgan crossed the line in 1:48:43, matching fellow Kiwi Eva Goodisson’s 27th-place finish in the women’s race and finishing 3min 27sec behind Portuguese star Vasco Vilaca, who seized control of the world title race with a brilliant victory in Sardinia.
The race had already lost one of its marquee attractions before the start after Hayden Wilde withdrew on medical advice due to illness, ending hopes of the highly anticipated Wilde-Yee-Hauser showdown.
What followed was chaos.
The technical bike course and slippery conditions contributed to a series of crashes that eventually claimed both Yee and Hauser, leaving Vilaca to capitalise with the biggest WTCS victory of his career.
Morgan, meanwhile, quietly went about delivering one of the most complete World Series performances of his career.
“Absolutely stacked field here in Sardinia and a privilege to toe the line with the best in the world,” the Cantabrian said.
“I’m honestly quite happy with this result after two bouts of sickness in the past six weeks interrupting my training significantly. Put myself in the front group out the water and stayed away on the bike. Run was a bit off pace but it’s where I’m at right now.”
For an athlete ranked 45th for the race and 43rd in the world, getting the swim right was always going to be critical.
Morgan did exactly that.
With athletes forced to start in knee-deep water because of the uneven beach surface, those with higher rankings enjoyed the preferred positions on the start line. Morgan wasn’t among them.
“Being ranked 45th I was definitely starting on the less favourable side with a slightly longer line to the first buoy,” he said.
“Knew the swim was going to be important after seeing what happened in Yokohama, although this start list was definitely deeper in athletes here, so I knew a fast swim was important. Came out 10 seconds off the leader and was comfortably in the front group getting onto the bike.”
That front group proved decisive.
While crashes disrupted the race around him, Morgan remained safely positioned throughout.
“The bike was very interesting today with a number of crashes. Positioning and following the right wheels was extremely important through the technical section of the bike course as the roads were fairly slippery.”
The run was where the effects of illness began to surface.
Morgan’s 33:49 10km split was solid but reflected a preparation interrupted first by the strep throat that forced his precautionary withdrawal from the Oceania SuperSprint Championships at Runaway Bay and then another virus after World Cup Chengdu.
“Coming onto the run I knew I wasn’t overly prepared after two bouts of sickness in the last six weeks,” he said. “The last six weeks have just lacked consistency and strength work that I know I need to perform well over the 10km and at WTCS level.”
Yet there was plenty to like.
The result sits just four places shy of Morgan’s career-best 23rd at last year’s World Championship Finals in Wollongong and offers further evidence that his Olympic ambitions remain firmly on track heading into a crucial European block.
With sprint-distance World Series races and mixed relay opportunities looming in Quiberon and Hamburg, Morgan now turns his attention to a training camp with the New Zealand squad in Banyoles, Spain.
“Three weeks of training with the NZ team now and looking forward to getting stuck into a run-focused block to turn things around a bit in Quiberon.”
