Congratulations to the Athletes of the Day on Wednesday at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu, China: the Brasilian Fistball Striker Cecilia Jaques lead her team to Gold and Benjamin Choquert, gold medalist in Duathlon Men’s individual. IWGA Board Member Arzhanova presented each with a certificate and a watch, courtesy of Tissot. In addition to the watch they received a gift from the Local Organzing Committee as well.
Motivated by a Picture of His Son: Benjamin Choquert
The individual duathlon followed a format of 5km run, 30km cycling and another 5km run requires transition efficiency and race strategy but most over endurance. For the weather conditions were quite challenging. Benjamin Choquert has his own way to keep himself on track: The French athlete affixed a photo showing his son to his bike. After his gold winning race he explained: "When it got tough, I looked at his picture and kept fighting." It worked pretty well. The top seed and silver medalist at TWG 2022 staged a comeback to win the men's individual duathlon on Thursday at TWG. Time stopped at 1:14:14 h. and edging Belgium's Arnaud Dely by nine seconds. The 39-year-old veteran, who dropped outside the top 10 during the cycling segment, unleashed a blistering final run to seize the lead in the second lap. Choquert who also runs marathons, disclosed his tactic: “I had to stay patient, for I knew I could come back and win in the end.” Choquert’s emphatic win added another major title to his collection after his victory at the World Championships in May in Pontevedra. Referring to his age he said some weeks ago: “The old Choquert is not finished, it’s just a new beginning”.
The Powerhouse: Cecilia Jacques
Cecilia has cemented her status as a powerhouse in fistball. The striker played a decisive role in Brazil's 3-2 victory over Switzerland in the final. After trailing 0-2 in the first two sets, the bronze medallists from Birmingham 2022 came back with force. A thriller under the Chengdu sun was underway. The Brazilians won the third set clearly 11-2. In the fourth set, they saved themselves with a narrow 14-12 victory. Each set is played to 11 points, but the lead must be at least two points. In the decisive round, the score was 9-9 before Brazil forced the victory. After the last point, the women celebrated exuberantly and danced on the pitch. The men's team joined in the celebrations, even though they still had the final against Germany to play (Brazil: 3-0). Cecilia Jacques striking power secured victory, as it had done in the 2024 World Cup final against Germany. The 25-years-old does not play in her home country, but in Austria for Union Freistadt. The national championship went to Freistadt this season. Who made it possible? Cecilia Jacques, of course.