Knibb revels in T100 atmosphere following victory on debut

By Abi Curran

Taylor Knibb revelled in the atmosphere of the San Francisco T100 as she romped to victory on her World Tour debut.

The 26-year-old blew all other competition away, winning with a margin of almost four minutes in 3:38:01.

The American has, so far, focused on short-course racing this season but proved her dominance on the T100 stage.

Knibb admitted it was not an easy race for her, coming second out of the water to Switzerland’s Imogen Simmonds, but she soon found her rhythm and broke away into the lead on the bike.

She said: “It did not feel easy but it is a great course and atmosphere out there – and I was very grateful to do this race.

“On the swim I dived in, probably a little late, and the one thing I’d been given advice on was that you dive into the water and everyone disperses and that didn’t happen.

“But it was like, get to the end, figure it out, and I saw Imogen, she got 30 seconds on everyone, and I thought ‘oh my God’. But I think seeing the men really helped because I was ready for everyone to be there [together].

“Once I was in the lead [on the bike], I wasn’t descending very well, I wasn’t taking the corners very well but I was trying to be better each lap.

“I think on the fifth lap I finally nailed the one turn into the curb, uphill.

“I just wanted to execute a good run and run well and see how it was, like see how it was after each lap and make decisions from there.”

Britain’s Kat Matthews took second following her disqualification in Hamburg last weekend and described the race as “personal redemption”.

She finished a minute faster than Knibb on two feet but 3:45 behind the American’s overall winning time for 28 points and $16,000.

Germany’s Laura Phillipp took third place on her T100 debut as Simmonds and Emma Pallant-Browne completed the top five.

Matthews said: “I’m pretty proud. I’m glad to have been able to have given Taylor a training day out before her Olympic prep begins.

“I’m not sure I’ve had the luckiest two years to be honest. But I think there was something special about this.

“I had so much energy for this after my dramas from last weekend and maybe a good long taper actually suits me.

“This race feels like I’ve just got back level – a redemption of my own personal performance. I’m still now desperate for that personal satisfaction to go more, to go higher.”