We Noticed: Jonny Brownlee Becomes a Dad, Dumoulin Rocks Marathon, Cape Town Catastrophe and a Hamburg Grand Final
Three-time Olympic medallist Jonny Brownlee became a dad this past weekend. Photo: World Triathlon
All eyes were on the big races in Australia, this past weekend, as the world’s best short-course and middle-distance racers travelled to Wollongong to compete at the T100 event and World Triathlon Championship Series Grand Final. However, there were several other big stories that broke before and after these races that deserve some attention.
Jonny Brownlee: World Champion, Olympic Medallist, Father
Olympic medallist and former world champion Jonny Brownlee took to Instagram on Sunday to announce that his life “feels complete” after introducing another Brownlee to the world. He and his wife, Fiona, welcomed a baby boy named Freddie into their family on Oct. 8.
Freddie arrived early at 36 weeks, catching his parents by surprise. Brownlee had been in Toulouse when Fiona went into labour, but he managed to make it home to Leeds before Freddie was born.
The young family spent 10 days at the hospital as Freddie recovered from jaundice, but they are now home, happy and healthy.
“I haven’t slept much in the last week, but I don’t care,” Brownlee wrote on Instagram. “I used to stress out if I missed an afternoon nap! My love for the little man is incredible.”
Dumoulin’s Fast Run
Former Dutch professional cyclist Tom Dumoulin had quite the race on Sunday, but not on his bike. He ran the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:29:21, finishing 116th overall in an event that always boasts a stacked field. (The Amsterdam Marathon attracts big names every year, including the likes of 5,000 m and 10,000 m world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda.)
Dumoulin raced as a pro cyclist for more than a decade, with his best season coming in 2017 when he won the Giro D’Italia and the world time trial title. He knows a thing or two about endurance racing, but he admitted to getting a little caught up in the moment on Sunday.
“All rational thinking beforehand of starting on a conservative pace went out the window and I decided to follow a big group that lead the first women on a 2:18 finish time pace,” he wrote on Instagram, adding that he decided to “have some fun and see what [happened].”
For most people (even an athlete of Dumoulin’s pedigree), this plan would not have lasted long — maybe a few miles, but not much more. Impressively, he managed to stick with the group up to and beyond the half-marathon point, which he and the lead women passed through in 1:09:09.
That’s an average pace of 5:16 per mile for the first half of the race, but Dumoulin couldn’t hold on much longer. After just over 14 miles, he faded and let the women run off without him.
“From there it was a struggle to the finish,” he wrote. “After stopping three times because of cramps and thinking I could not finish anymore, I managed to hold on to a pace just fast enough to still finish in a sub-2:30 time.”
There are a number of questions people might be asking after Dumoulin’s big result. How quickly could he run if he paced the race correctly? Is he going to do another marathon any time soon? But the most important question (in our opinion): we knew he had the cycling legs, he’s proven he can run, so will he add swimming to the mix and try a triathlon?
Cape Town’s Last-Minute Cancellation
About 24,000 runners were left disappointed on Sunday morning in South Africa after they received word that the Cape Town Marathon had been cancelled due to poor weather. Event organizers waited as long as they could before making the call, not sending the notification to athletes until just 75 minutes before the race was set to start.
This short-notice decision left participants quite upset, but officials said it was a necessary call after severe winds “wreaked havoc in the race venue” through the night leading into race day.
“The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is devastated at the cancellation of our very special event,” Clark Gardner, the marathon CEO, said in a press release following the announcement. “We have worked for months on planning for all scenarios and conditions, but ultimately a bigger force had the final say, and we are so sorry for the situation.”
Cape Town has hosted a number of high-profile endurance races in recent years.
The decision to call off the race could carry more weight than just any cancellation, as the Cape Town Marathon is an official candidate to become an Abbott World Marathon Major (AbbottWMM) event. The 2025 edition of the race was going to be a chance for AbbottWMM officials to evaluate the event, but that will have to be put on hold.
“We were excited to see all the progress the team in Cape Town had made this year after passing their evaluation in 2024,” AbbottWMM CEO Dawna Stone said in a press release. “Our hearts go out to the organizers, volunteers and participants who wanted to make this a historic day, and appreciate what a difficult decision this must have been.”
The marathon’s title sponsor, Sanlam, announced on Monday that they would give all 24,000 entrants in the cancelled event free entry to either the 2026 or 2027 races.
Hamburg Wins WTCS Grand Final
WTCS Hamburg is a favorite race for both athletes and fans every season, and World Triathlon has acknowledged that enthusiasm for the event by granting the German city the 2027 World Triathlon Championship Finals. The event will be held in Sept. 2027 and welcome approximately 4,500 athletes from around the world.
Australia’s Matt Hauser races at the 2025 Mixed Relay Championship in Hamburg. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
Hamburg has played host to the Mixed Relay World Championships on multiple occasions, as well as the 2023 Sprint and Relay World Championships, and the city will now get its shot at the biggest event World Triathlon has to offer.
“World Triathlon is delighted to award the 2027 championship finals to Hamburg,” said World Triathlon President Antonio Arimany. “We extend our full support and gratitude to the […] German Triathlon Federation […] for their unwavering support.”
Start the discussion at forum.slowtwitch.com