EagleVail triathlete claims first World Triathlon Cup podium in Huatulco, Mexico

Sullivan Middaugh has already had some pretty good performances in his relatively short career.

Aside from his Battle Mountain High School highlights, locals probably recall the first of his four XTERRA national titles back in 2022, when he and his father, Josiah (a 15-time U.S. champion in his own right) went 1-2 at Beaver Creek. Middaugh followed that up with back-to-back XTERRA short-track world titles in 2024 and 2025. All the while, the 22-year-old has gradually climbed the draft-legal road ranks as a member of USA Triathlon’s Project Podium.

He secured his first Americas Triathlon Cup victory in 2024 and made his World Triathlon Championship Series debut a year later. Last Sunday, Middaugh made another leap forward in his run-up to the 2028 Olympics.

“This was definitely my best finish yet in draft-legal road event,” Middaugh said after claiming his first World Triathlon Cup podium in Huatulco, Mexico. “Maybe best ever — in triathlon.”

World Triathlon operates on a three-tier system. The Americas Triathlon Cup serves as the development circuit, sitting one step below the World Triathlon Cup, which feeds into the sport’s top circuit, the World Triathlon Championship Series. In the last two seasons, Middaugh has amassed 10 podiums and four wins at the continental level. Prior to this past weekend, however, his best finish at a World Triathlon Cup was a 10th-place result in San Pedro de la Paz from November.

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On Sunday, he exited the 750-meter swim in 50th place, 35 seconds behind then leader and Project Podium teammate Blake Bullard. Historically, the pack tends to regroup along the 20-kilometer bike, and this edition was no different. Once he hopped in the saddle, Middaugh quickly caught his younger brother, Porter — who was five seconds up — and together, the pair bridged the gap to the leaders. Warm water and air temps made it hard to push, Sullivan Middaugh said.

“But I knew that everyone was going to be struggling, so I just kind of put my head down on one lap and was able to catch pretty quick,” he added. Middaugh said he thought about making a break on the bike.

“But I wanted to trust in my run and just settle and be as fresh as possible,” he said. The EagleVail product exited the second transition in front, but three-time Canadian Olympian Tyler Mislawchuk was hot on his heels. A ninth-place finisher at the Paris Games, the 32-year-old made a move early in the 5K run.

“I wasn’t able to go with,” Middaugh said of Mislawchuk’s initial surge. “But I was able to claw back in the middle and run with him for a little while until he made his last move at the end.”

Mislawchuk, who is ranked 14th in the world rankings, stopped the clock at 53 minutes, 20 seconds. Middaugh split 14:45 for the run to finish eight seconds back in second. Reese Vannerson was the second American in fourth and Braxton Legg placed seventh. With those two, plus Middaugh and Canadian Mathis Beaulieu, Project Podium put four athletes in the top-7 in the first race of the Olympic qualification window. Coach Parker Spencer called the result a “huge step for the team.”

“There are a lot of stories in this group of overcoming adversity this year and this past weekend,” Spencer stated on social media. “There are so many highs and lows in this sport, and weekends like this are special because you get to celebrate the highs. But I’ve learned the real work is done in the lows, when it’s hard for an athlete to keep believing in themselves and they need a team around them to help them get past those hard times.”

Spencer’s sentiment speaks to Middaugh’s season storyline well.

“The beginning of the season went pretty bad for me,” Middaugh admitted. He opened his campaign in China this spring. He said he was second-to-last in his first event before finishing 47th out of 54 finishers in the World Triathlon Cup in Haikou on March 21. Middaugh returned to Project Podium’s home base in Tempe, Arizona on a mission.

“I came back and just kind of had a different mindset of trying to get the most out of every session,” he explained. “The biggest thing is I was really consistent, in the running especially.”

He traded track reps with his younger brother, who earned his first Americas Triathlon Cup win last July.

“I think he was set up for a breakthrough race this past weekend, too,” Sullivan said. Unfortunately, Porter got boxed out of the peloton, clipped a traffic cone and crashed, ultimately finishing in 49th.

“He got right back up, but his chain was off, so then he was kind of out of the race,” Sullivan stated. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if we would have been on the run together. But — the next one.”

Both are back in Park City for a few weeks before heading to Chile for the Continental Championships. While Sullivan Middaugh made his World Triathlon Championship Series debut last fall in Hamburg, where he was 45th, he plans to spend most of his time on the World Triathlon Cup this summer.

“I think my swim is just not quite at that level yet where I’m put out of the race early,” he explained.

He’s also eying the XTERRA World Championships in Ruidoso, New Mexico this September. In addition to going for the short-track three-peat, Middaugh hopes this year — being at altitude and in the U.S. — will position him in the long-course conversation, too.

“I think I’ve put in a lot more bike volume and volume in general,” he said. “So, I’m hoping I’ll be able to hang a lot better with the top-3.”

Looking farther out, the Los Angeles Olympics remain the main target. The host nation automatically gets two spots, but the U.S. can earn up to three quota spots if it gets a trio of athletes in the top-30 of the World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Rankings. Presently, Middaugh is the top American in those standings in 18th, followed by Vannerson (23rd) and Legg (28th). With several of the country’s best talents training together on a daily basis — and going for the same goal — Middaugh said everyone knows the math.

“Our coach has definitely talked about that and we’re all aware, but I think we’re really good at making each other better in training,” Middaugh said. “I think we all have the mindset that we’re all in this together.”

The U.S. qualification period runs from May 18, 2026 to May 18, 2027, and May 19, 2027 to May 18, 2028. USA Triathlon “will continue providing updates on qualification standings, selection criteria, and timelines,” according to a release last month. While Sunday’s silver doesn’t lock anything up, Middaugh said it’s a good start. When he looks back, it’s hard to believe how far he’s come.

“Just thinking back to where I started, doing junior series races in the U.S. to getting on the podium at a World Cup — it’s pretty amazing to see that growth,” he said. “I think at the beginning of the year I kind of thought I was in a little bit of a slump, but it’s cool to get that confidence back and see that I’m making a lot of growth.”