🥇 The comeback is done. Dylan McCullough is officially back and basking in the golden afterglow of the second World Triathlon Cup victory of his career.
McCullough’s nine second win over German Justus Töpper in Asuncion, Paraguay overnight adds to his Tongyeong victory in October 2024 and has seen the Paris Olympian zoom up to 27th in the latest World Triathlon Olympic Rankings, inside the all-important top 30. More on that Kiwi-topping LA28 metric shortly.
For now though, marvel at the run of results the 25-year-old Aucklander has rattled off since returning from 18 months on the sidelines with spine and associated Achilles injuries in late May:
1st – Asia Cup Lianyungang (May 23, China/Sprint)
1st – Asia Cup Osaka Castle (May 31, Japan/Sprint)
23rd – World Cup Edmonton (July 18, Canada/Sprint)
2nd – World Cup Rio de Janeiro (August 2, Brazil/Sprint)
1st – World Cup Asuncion (August 9, Paraguay/Standard)
McCullough’s victory comes a week after his silver in Rio de Janeiro and in what is becoming trademark fashion.
For the second week running, the Kiwi was first out of the water, holding the lead through the opening lap of the 1500m swim and all the way into transition, where he touched with an 11-second cushion over Kevin Tarek Viñuela González (ESP).
After the opening lap of the 40km bike leg, a large lead group was whittled down to just five: McCullough, Shachar Sagiv (ISR), Martin Demuth (CZE), Töpper and eventual bronze medallist Toby Powers (AUS). Once again showing the breakaway instincts he had displayed in Rio, McCullough organised the quintet and drove the pace lap after lap, stretching the advantage over the 18-strong chase group to nearly three minutes by the finish of the bike leg.
McCullough took control of the 10km run from the first stride, and Demuth was the first to lose contact. With 8km to go, Sagiv also dropped back, leaving the podium to be settled between McCullough, Töpper and Powers. Powers held on through three of the four laps, but on the last McCullough and Töpper went shoulder to shoulder with the blue carpet in sight, and the Kiwi found an extra gear in the closing 300m to take the win.
“It’s amazing to win today after my silver in Rio,” McCullough said.
“I had a really good swim today, and we worked really well together on the bike. Massive kudos to Justus, Toby, Shachar and Martin, we pushed some serious power on the bike today. Everyone was super committed, and I’m proud of how everyone worked to make this breakaway successful.”
McCullough then added perhaps the most telling comment with an eye to the LA 2028 Olympics.
“It’s really cool to see that the game is changing, it’s not so much a runner’s race anymore,” he said.
“Credit to the boys today, I can’t thank them enough. My legs were pretty cooked on the run, they were cramping badly, but in the last 5km the cramp disappeared and I managed to hold on for the win.”
McCullough’s official world ranking had slipped to 269th courtesy of his 18 months on the sideline. After his giddy run of results over the past three months, he’s now up to 108th.
More pertinently, he’s the leading Kiwi in the Official World Triathlon Olympic Rankings in 27th, Saxon Morgan the next best in 90th with Tayler Reid 93rd and Hayden Wilde 143rd after his illness-interrupted start to the new Olympic qualifying window.
Presuming Team NZL qualifies for the 2028 Olympics through the Mixed Relay route, it will ensure two male and two female slots in the individual races in LA as a result. There is a world where NZL could have three individual slots but that will require all three athletes to be ranked inside the top 30 of the Olympic rankings.
There’s a long way to go – the 24 month qualifying period doesn’t close till May 18, 2028 – but McCullough, back with longtime coach John Hellemans, is doing his bit.
World Triathlon Cup Asuncion – Selected Results
🥇 Dylan McCullough (NZL) 01:42:41
🥈 Justus Töpper (GER) 01:42:50 (+0:09)
🥉 Toby Powers (AUS) 01:43:15 (+0:34)
Also
10. James Corbett (TRI) 01:44:35 (+1:54)
