In four months, triathlon will be back in Hong Kong as it makes it much-anticipated debut on the World Cup circuit. The latest Asia Cup on the island thus gave the perfect opportunity to fine-tune the running of the event. As will be the case in March 2024, the race at the Asia Cup was held over the Sprint distance. While that brought about a close finish in the men’s race, the women’s event was rather different. Women’s race Wing To Cho of Hong Kong led the way in the…
Read MoreMonth: November 2023
The New Flag Races To The Paris Olympics – Asia Men
Yesterday we kicked off a series of articles investigating the state of play in the New Flag races to the 2024 Olympic Games, starting with the European men. As a reminder, a New Flag place at the Games is awarded to one man and one woman for each of the five continental associations. The recipient must be the highest ranked athlete from their continent and race for a country that has not already qualified an athlete of the same gender to Paris. In addition, an athlete needs to be in the top-180…
Read MoreWhich Athletes Won The Most World Cup Medals in 2023
In 2023, only two women and four men managed to win more than two medals in the World Triathlon Championships Series. At the next rung down in the sport, the World Cup circuit, fewer athletes still matched the feat of winning more than two medals. Moreover, in total fourteen athletes won multiple WTCS medals this season. At the World Cup level, that number stood at eleven. Of course, one factor behind this is that the WTCS is structured to incentivise repeated attendance at the race. To be in contention for…
Read MoreThe Triathlon Comeback Stories of 2023: Vicky Holland
In some respects, it was a case of saving the best for last. Vicky Holland was the fourth and most recent of the athletes to make a comeback to elite triathlon after a maternity break this year. Without wishing to compare her return too directly to those of Gwen Jorgensen, Katie Zaferes and Alice Betto, Holland made perhaps the biggest initial splash. Whereas her counterparts took at least one race to regain their bearings at the world level, Holland plunged into the Tangier World Cup and came away with a…
Read MoreThe New Flag Races To The Paris Olympics – Europe Men
In the wake of the final World Cup of 2023, the Olympic qualification rankings will be frozen in place until the first World Cup of 2024 takes place in Napier, New Zealand, in February. However, one pathway into the Olympic Games remains very much alive and kicking. One of the more exciting aspects of the qualification process is the New Flag system. One New Flag slot is available per gender for each of the five continental associations (Europe, Asia, Americas, Africa and Oceania). To earn a New Flag place at…
Read MoreThe Triathlon Comeback Stories of 2023: Alice Betto
Alice Betto’s comeback in 2023 has been a story of inexorable improvements. At every race, the Italian athlete seemed to get better and she capped it with a first ever international gold medal. Like Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen, Betto’s time away from the sport came as a result of a maternity break. She had last raced at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2021 and it would be over 18 months before she returned to the Series. In comparison to her two American counterparts, Betto was a little late to the…
Read MoreWhich Athletes Won Their First World Cup Medals In 2023
Fourteen World Cups over eight months: the 2023 World Triathlon calendar has offered precious little respite for the athletes chasing points around the globe. Throughout the array of racing, there have been a multitude of bright spots, of athletes that have had the joy of winning their first ever World Cup medals. Some of the athletes were in the early chapters of their careers. Some were towards the end. What united them was the sense of achievement, the validation of the years of hard work and sacrifice. Any world level…
Read MoreValentina Riasova Receives Two Year Ban For Doping
When something looks too good to be true, more often than not it is. World Triathlon confirmed today that Russian triathlete Valentina Riasova has been issued with a two year doping ban. This comes four days after TriStats identified Riasova as the star performer on the Les Sables Vendée Triathlon team in the 2023 French Grand Prix. Having been unable to race on the international circuit for a spell, seemingly due to Russia’s ban after the invasion of Ukraine, Riasova had found notable success on the French circuit. Wins in Metz…
Read MoreThe Triathlon Comeback Stories of 2023: Katie Zaferes
Katie Zaferes was one half of a double comeback for the American team in 2023 alongside Gwen Jorgensen. As former world champions and Olympic medallists, their returns made for an exciting narrative to follow throughout the season. The similarities also extended to the types of comeback they were undertaking. With both navigating their returns after maternity absences from elite competition, they helped to shed additional light to an important conversation for female athletes in triathlon. While World Triathlon had launched its new maternity policy at the start of the year,…
Read MoreWho Had The Top Splits at the Vina Del Mar World Cup 2023
Swim Alessio Crociani was the fastest man in the water at the Vina del Mar World Cup and used an impressive surge over the second half of the swim to emerge clear of the field. He clocked 8:41 for the 750m. Home favourite Diego Moya was the next man out of the water in 8:45 while Daniel Dixon was the last man to remain within 10 seconds of Crociani as he completed the swim in 8:51. Panagiotis Bitados then followed in 8:53. Chase McQueen, Gianluca Pozzatti and Seth Rider were…
Read MoreThe Triathlon Comeback Stories of 2023: Gwen Jorgensen
Among the multiple comebacks to elite triathlon in 2023, Gwen Jorgensen’s was perhaps the least expected. The former Olympic champion announced her return in December 2022 and in doing so sent shockwaves through the sport. Her stated aim was to make the US Olympic team in 2024 with the Mixed Team Relay being both a source of inspiration and the focus of her ambitions. With a full season of racing now under her belt, in this article we will assess Jorgensen’s comeback and delve into how far she has come…
Read MoreChanges Made To The Start Of The 2024 Triathlon Season
There has already been movement on the planned schedule for international triathlon in 2024. The first stops of the WTCS and World Cup schedules for next year were announced in September. In the weeks since, new races have been added while previously fixed dates have been changed. World Triathlon have confirmed that WTCS Abu Dhabi has been moved back by a week. It was originally slated to take place between 2-3 March next year. Now it will occur on 8-9 March. As a result, the new Abu Dhabi date will…
Read MoreJara and Wright Win Americas Cup in Vina del Mar
The last Americas Cup of the season took place in Vina del Mar at the weekend, ending a year that began all the way back in February in La Guaira, Venezuela. In an unusual occurrence, the event took place alongside the World Cup at the same venue and on the same weekend. Hosting multiple races is not entirely uncommon. Montreal hosted a WTCS event and an Americas Cup this summer, albeit on different weekends. Vina del Mar had the unique experience of hosting all the races in one go. The…
Read MoreMaira Carreau and Arizona State Claim 2023 NCAA D1 Titles
Triathlon took its latest step forward in America amid the action at the 2023 NCAA championships over the weekend. Hosted by Arizona State University, the defending champions, the event saw athletes from over thirty institutions participate. The NCAA represents university and collegiate sports in the United States and has long been a pipeline of American Olympic talent, particularly in swimming and track and field. In part due to Title IX regulations, which essentially ensures an equal access to sport at the NCAA level (it more broadly prohibits discrimination on the…
Read MoreWhat to Make of the Drama at the Vina del Mar World Cup
The women’s race at the Vina del Mar World Cup saw one of the most dramatic finishes of the season. However, the excitement of watching one former world champion (Gwen Jorgensen) hunt down another (Katie Zaferes) in the final kilometre while Tereza Zimovjanova battled to hold on to a best ever World Cup finish was soon dwarfed by what happened next. In a shock move, four of the top-5 finishers were disqualified from the race. At the end of the first of the two run laps, the leaders took the…
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