Three unforgettable World Triathlon title deciders ahead of the 2023 finale

Neck and neck heading into the final stretch on the famous triathlon blue carpet; jostling for position while calculating points needed to secure the world crown; seemingly seeing your title chance slip away before regrouping with one last spurt – these are just three ways the World Triathlon Championship Finals, which crown the world's best male and female athletes, have finished in recent years.

The 2023 edition, set to take place in Pontevedra, Spain on 23-24 September, is set be another thriller.

In the women's edition on Sunday, a new athlete will take the title after Bermuda's Flora Duffy – a four-time winner including the past two editions, and Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown, the 2020 gold medallist, are out of contention through injury.

Of the four primary contenders – Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and Beth Potter (GBR) – are the two most likely, with Beaugrand's compatriot Emma Lombardi and Taylor Spivey of the United States, also in with a chance.

In the men's event, mathematically eight athletes could still take the title, including the two who went head-to-head in the 2022 edition – New Zealand's Hayden Wilde and GB's Alex Yee – resulting in the most surprising of endings (see below).

Added jeopardy for all athletes includes the ongoing collection of points for the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking for women and men, which runs between 27 May 2022 and 27 May 2024, that decide the quota spots per nation for the Games in France in less than a year's time.

National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, with athletes' participation at the Paris Games dependent on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024. Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

To whet the appetite for the 2023 edition, Olympics.com has selected three of the all-time classic races, including last year's showdown.

• How to qualify for triathlon at Paris 2024

Favourites Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde just miss out

With all eyes on the silver and bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020, Great Britain's Alex Yee and New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, were seemingly the two to watch at the 2022 World Triathlon Championship showdown.

The pair were in pole position in the final race of the seven-competition series, with the Kiwi needing first or second to become a first-time world champion. Yee, meanwhile, needed a safety net of at least one athlete between himself and Wilde to take his first title.

Various other connotations meant other overall winners were possible, but that seemed unlikely.

Yet unlikely is what happened when Yee and Wilde came out of the 1500m-swim leg and onto the bike leg, in a second group behind a breakaway of 15 riders.

Crucially, Leo Bergere of France was in the lead group – one of those unlikelies – and would have the race of his life to win a first-ever World Series event. Quite the time to do it.

With Jelle Geens of Belgium overtaking Yee and Matt Hauser of Australia overtaking Wilde in the final stages – relegating the favoured duo to finish in fourth and sixth, respectively – it was a surprised Bergere who ended up world champion.

• Leo Bergere: How childhood experiences in a Pacific Island jungle helped shape a triathlon world champion

Gwen Jorgensen's first-final fightback

Iconic women's racer, Gwen Jorgensen, started the 2014 Grand Final just needing a top-16 finish to claim her first world title and continue on what would become a historic winning streak.

That pesky water discipline dented the American's hopes as athlete after athlete piled past her, leaping on their bikes and pedalling off while Jorgensen was still removing her wetsuit from the swim and strapping on her cycle helmet.

The Wisconsin native didn't panic however, despite being left to cycle solo in an effort to catch up with the group of, yes, 16 riders ahead of her.

At the head of that lead group was compatriot Sarah Groff who was trying to win her own debut world title, so the pace wasn't slow.

Come the run however and Jorgensen's strength won out, making up 60 seconds deficit to pick off one athlete after another, until eventually, not only claiming the world title but the race win with it.

Even Jorgensen shook her head on crossing the line, a wry smile on her face.

• Rio 2016 triathlon gold medallist Gwen Jorgensen: "I'm having a ton of fun whereas last time was just so rigid"

Brothers beyond – when Alistair Brownlee came to the aid of Jonny Brownlee

"I wish the flippin' idiot had paced it right and crossed the finish line first."

Such were the comforting words of men's triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee at the World Triathlon Championship series finale in Cozumel in 2016, the Brit smiling as he talked about the moment he helped his struggling brother Jonny Brownlee cross the finish line.

A two-time Olympic champion and double world title holder himself at that point, Alistair was out of the running for the 2016 edition, but his younger brother wasn't.

Jonny, who needed to win the race to claim the title, was in the lead with 700m to go when his legs started to buckle, overheating in the heat of the Mexico sun.

When Alistair rounded the corner in the latter stages of the race in third, he saw his sibling staggering around the blue carpet, so he propped up his brother – an Olympic silver and bronze medallist himself – and ran the last few paces with him before pushing Jonny over the line ahead of him so baby bro could get as many points as possible.

Nevertheless, the pair were overtaken by South African Henri Schoeman in the last metres, who claimed a last-gasp race win, which meant Mario Mola's fifth-place finish was enough to secure the overall world title for the Spaniard.

"Not how I wanted to end the season, but I gave it everything," posted Jonny from a hospital bed in which he was attached to a drip, which quickly revived him after replenishing the fluids lost.

"Thanks Ali, your loyalty is incredible."