On May 5, the Chinese city of Chengdu hosted a World Triathlon Cup on the standard distance. This venue has a rich history of Ukrainian participation: back in 2012, Yuliya Yelistratova claimed victory here when Chengdu staged an Asian Cup event.
In the years that followed, Chengdu became a regular stop on the World Cup circuit, with numerous Ukrainian athletes making their mark. In 2014, Oleksii Syutkin, Oleksandra Stepanenko, and Inna Ryzhykh lined up at the start. The following year, Yegor Martynenko, Ivan Ivanov, and Danylo Sapunov represented Ukraine on the men’s side, while Stepanenko and Yelistratova competed among the women — the latter finishing an impressive fifth.
In 2016, Ivanov became the first Ukrainian to crack the top 20 in Chengdu, placing 16th. Sapunov joined him on the start line once again, and Yelistratova narrowly missed the podium, taking fourth.
The 2017 edition featured a semi-final/final format, with Ivanov securing 14th place overall. The same format returned in 2018: Yelistratova finished eighth, Martynenko was fifth in the B final, and they were joined by Margarita Krylova and Ivan Menshykov. In 2019, Martynenko once again placed fifth in the B final, and Yelistratova added more points to her world ranking tally.

After a long hiatus, a Ukrainian athlete returned to Chengdu’s start line in 2024. Vitalii Vorontsov toed the line at the World Cup but was forced to withdraw during the bike segment.
This year, Vorontsov returned and finished 42nd, earning 20 valuable points toward the World Triathlon Rankings. It marked his third race of the season, following a 29th-place finish at the World Cup in Liévin, France, and a 14th-place showing at the Supertri World Championships in London.
This coming weekend, Vorontsov is set to compete at the Asian Cup in Lianyungang — a milestone 100th career start for the Ukrainian.

A bit disappointed with my performance at the World Cup in Chengdu, but there are still some positives to take away!

Had a strong start in the swim and was feeling confident about the race — but it all fell apart at the first buoy when I got pulled underwater and had to fight my way back up just to breathe 🤕 It was the first time something like this has ever happened to me in a race, and it was a real shock to the body. I tried to recover and keep going, but I had lost a lot of strength by then.

Now I’m focused on bouncing back — next opportunity is already next week at the Asian Cup in Lianyungang (China) 🤞🏼