Photo Gallery: Jolien Vermeylen Takes a Surprise Win at Supertri Toronto

Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen made the most of both her first Supertri event and the “short chute” advantage to win in Toronto today, surging past Olympic gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand (who would eventually take third) and another French Olympian, Leonie Periault (fresh off a win at the World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg two weeks ago), to take the overall win in the first race of the 2025 Supertri League Series.

The race featured an “Eliminator” format that included three races of 300 m swim, 4 km bike and a 1 km run, with the final race featuring two loops of the run course. The last two in the first two heats were eliminated, and there was six minutes between each heat.

Here’s a recap of the day’s racing in pictures:

Team Stars and Stripes (Rosia Maria Tapia Vidal, Taylor Spivey, Nina Eim and Annika Koch) chill before the start of the race, which began with a 300 m swim in Lake Ontario near Ontario Place.

Cassandre Beaugrand and Georgia Taylor-Brown are ready to have fun.

Tilly Anema would lead the women out of the water at the end of the first swim.

With a 200 m run from the swim exit to the transition, athletes had to put on shoes after the swim before they ran up the steps to the bridge.

Through the first bike the Crown Racing Team was well back through the swim and bike, no doubt conserving energy for the second two heats of the race.

After Vermeylen took the first heat, Sophie Alden and Nina Eim (who crashed on the bike) would be eliminated.

The Crown Racing crew would get a lot more aggressive on the second leg, with Beaugrand taking the win ahead of Periault and fellow Crown Racing teammate Emma Lombardi.

Crown Racing’s Emma Jeffcoat would get eliminated after the second heat along with Stars and Stripes’ Tapia Vidal.

In the final race, which began with a time trial start based on combined times, Beaugrand would make up the 14 second deficit on Periault (who went off first) in the swim and lead the women to T1.

Taylor-Brown would ride her way to the front by the end of the final bike, and then use an interesting bike handling technique to get back to transition.

Beaugrand was considerably less hurried into the final transition …

… But appeared ready to assert her dominance on the final run.

Brownlee Racing had won both short chutes, though, which meant Vermeylen suddenly found herself alongside the Olympic champ heading into the final 1 km of running.

Even Vermeylen seemed surprised that she was about to hold off two of the sport’s top short-course athletes and take the win.

Surprised, but very, very happy.

Still happy as she gets on the podium.

Notice the Olympic champ has strict rules about champagne and her running shoes … the two don’t mix.

All smiles for the medalists.

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