Rookie Beth Potter claims world triathlon title with stunning performance in Spain

Beth Potter (centre) has only been a triathlete for six years but is now world champion

Beth Potter claimed the triathlon world title with a stunning performance in Pontevedra, Spain, just six years after she took up the sport.

The Brit started the day second in the championship standings behind rival Cassandre Beaugrand, and needed to beat the French star as she did at the Olympic Games Test Event in Paris just last month to claim the title.

She exited the 1,500m swim behind Beaugrand but alongside British team-mate Kate Waugh, who went onto win silver in the race.

As team-mates Sophie Coldwell and Olivia Mathias traded top spot on the 40km bike leg, Potter moved to within seconds of the leaders in a 15-strong pack at the front of the race. With Beaugrand for company, she remained towards the front of the field throughout the eight-lap bike circuit, with no one able to break clear.

• The research gap restricting women in sport
• Assefa shatters women's marathon world record
• Farah finishes fourth in last competitive race

With nothing to separate Potter and Beaugrand, who had won four Championship Series races between them coming into this one, they entered transition for the second time, the world title coming down to the 10km run.

Potter, who outran Beaugrand in Paris to claim gold last month, set the early pace alongside compatriot Waugh. The French threat came not from Beaugrand but from her team-mate Emma Lombardi, who had her own world title aspirations, as the series leader failed to keep up with the Brit out in front.

Potter crosses the finish line to take title

Potter pushed the pace with Waugh alongside her, pulling further ahead of her main title challenger. By the final laps, she was all alone as she left the field in her wake to win the world championship crown by 18 seconds.

Waugh was able to claim the silver medal, her first at a World Triathlon Championship Series event, as Beaugrand finished a distant third. Coldwell ended the day seventh with Mathias 32nd on her return from injury.

Potter took the series victory with the race win and was joined on the overall podium by Beaugrand and Lombardi.

Speaking on her race and series win, Potter said: "It's a bit mad, I thought at 5km [mid-point of the run] that this [becoming world champion] might actually happen but I just didn't want to believe it until right at the very end.

"I'm a bit lost for words, the perfect end to the perfect season for me. I'm really motivated to go into this winter and work harder, just train harder and see where I'm at next year and hopefully it's even better.

"I'd always planned in my head to attack on the hill towards the end of the race, so that was in my plan and I feel like I followed that. I felt pretty comfortable and it was great to see Kate [Waugh - GBR] get on the podium [silver] as well. She's made a big change this past year and to see it paying off, I think, it's not dissimilar to what I did. I made a big change and a big move and it's just great to see her getting on the podium."