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For the 1,5km swim, we had to swim two 750m laps with 5 buoys to go around. I did a good first lap being in the second group, and in the first group two girls had made a gap. I felt very powerful and swam a solid second lap, being able to get out with the main group in 20min 47sec. Coming out of the water there was a long transition to the transition area where I quickly jumped on my bike to join the main group of 13 girls.

The bike course was flat, with 6 round trips along a wide road. After three laps, the first two girls who had escaped were caught and swallowed up in my group. At the end of the fourth lap, I launched an attack at the entrance of the turn and at the exit, I broke away from the group which caught up with me a few minutes later. I tried my luck again in the next U-turn and accelerated again before the corner and attacked again at the exit. This time my attack worked and I escaped from the group leaving my competitors behind. My goal at that moment was clear: to create the biggest possible gap with the group in order to get the biggest possible lead over my competitors to start the run. During my breakaway on the last lap, I pedaled as fast and as hard as I could, all alone in the time trial for the last 7km and I arrived in the second transition in the lead with more than 40s ahead of the group in 1h00min10sec for the 40km bike.

I started the first of the four laps of the run in first position. I enjoyed this moment because I knew that my competitors would soon be coming up behind me. I set a good pace without burning out. Then towards the middle of the first lap the fastest runners got ahead of me. Then towards the end of the first lap, two more girls came up to me and I started my second lap with them. At that point, we were fighting for 8th, 9th and 10th place. On the third lap, I took the lead by accelerating until I left my two competitors behind and broke away to the front. I felt very powerful and still had the strength to accelerate. I then started to increase on the last lap and managed to catch another competitor in a final sprint with 500m to go. I took the 7th place with my best time ever on the run in 38min 33sec for the 10km. I finished the race in 2:01:48, a great performance well above my expectations.

I was very proud to have been able to give it my all and especially to have gained places at the end of the run. Moreover, I had a lot of fun throughout the race! After these 11 weeks of training in China, my fitness has improved a lot. I could see that my hard work is paying off. I managed to show in my performance what I was capable of that day. It was a great feeling and very rewarding. A great way to end my stay in China.