Month: January 2024

After a couple of major Mixed Team Relay results, including a stunning 3rd place at 2023 World Championships in Hamburg, Switzerland have all but locked up qualification for the relay event at the Paris Olympics. As a result, they can plan to send a team of two men and two women to the Games. With Olympic success in years prior, such as through Sven Riederer and then Nicola Spirig, Switzerland have celebrated medals in the men’s and women’s competitions. A third Olympic event, the relay, was then introduced in Tokyo.…

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Only one Belgian triathlete was able to fall asleep on New Year’s Eve safe in the knowledge that they will be going to the Paris Olympic Games. For the rest of the national squad, a convoluted selection policy means that it will be impossible to forecast the team until the very last day of the qualification window. Much of the complexity with the Belgian selection policy arises from whether or not the team qualifies in the Mixed Relay. Deepening the complications is the fact that Belgium is the top-ranked team…

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Portugal is a team that brims with potential. However, it may also miss out on at least two of the three triathlon events at the Paris Olympics. Working out what the country may do on the triathlon scene this year is thus no easy feat. While the national team has the talent to qualify, both in the relay and individually, as things stand they are only in line to earn two men’s slots. None of the women are currently in a qualifying position and the relay is also on the…

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Right now, Japan is the only Asian country due to qualify athletes in both the men’s and women’s triathlon events at the Paris Olympics. However, they are not in line to send a relay. A team of one woman and two men is currently forecasted to qualify based on the Olympic rankings. To secure a second women’s slot, someone will either have to step up in the individual Olympic rankings or the whole team will have to pull together and deliver some big relay results. Who has been selected already?…

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At this point in time, it seems fairly assured that Australia will qualify two men and two women at the Olympic Games. The country’s Mixed Team Relay looks secure, being ranked 7th in the world. With the three teams at the top of the rankings having already qualified, Australia finds itself essentially 4th in the relay qualification rankings. Six teams are due to book their Olympic places through the relay rankings. As such, it is unlikely that Australia will now miss out. However, a third athlete does not appear a…

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The hosts of this year’s Olympic Games might be the strongest in terms of all-round triathlon strength and depth. Certainly, when it comes to projecting the Olympic line-ups, there may be no country that can claim to surpass France’s combined male and female firepower. On the strength front, France can call upon four overall medallists from the 2023 WTCS season; Britain and New Zealand claimed the others with one apiece. Meanwhile, when it comes to depth, only Germany is forecasted to join France in qualifying three men and three women,…

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The first World Cup of 2024 is zooming into view. As has often been the case, New Zealand will play host to the opening major race of the season. In years gone by, New Plymouth has welcomed elite triathletes to the opener of the World Cup circuit. This year, the race will head over to the east coast of the North Island, to Napier. Being so early in the year, several athletes may have a few cobwebs to dispel while others will skip the event entirely and start their campaigns…

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With the Olympics Games half a year away, we can examine which individuals would race in Paris if the qualifying window ended now. As with the forecasted men’s start list at the Olympics, much of the women’s field is determined by the qualifiers for the Mixed Team Relay. While the individual selections by each national federation all still to be finalised for the most part, many of those that are projected to make the cut will likely claim the slots. In some cases, an athlete may earn a slot for…

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Yesterday, we explored which countries would qualify in the Mixed Team Relay at the Paris Olympics if qualifying ended now. Due to the nature of the qualification system in triathlon, the relay informs almost half of the start list in each of the men’s and women’s races. The processes are therefore inherently linked. For some athletes, the relay will be their ticket to Paris. For others, their individual qualification will be their ticket into the relay. In this article, we will investigate the prospective start lists for the men’s race…

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In just over half a year the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will begin. In the realm of triathlon, athletes have a final four month stretch until late May in which Olympic qualification will be decided. With not long left to go, then, this article will cast an eye over which countries are in a position to qualify, starting with the Mixed Team Relay. The Mixed Relay takes the first priority in the allocation of Olympic places in triathlon. It is also perhaps the easiest way to guarantee four athletes from a…

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As things stand, Italy are on the outside looking in with respect to qualifying in the Mixed Team Relay at the Paris Olympic Games. For most countries, that would be a major source of concern as the two male and two female slots on offer would be warmly accepted. However, the Italian federation has no need to panic. Indeed, their attendance at the Mixed Team Relay Qualification Event in Huatulco may even be irrelevant. Italy are all but certain to qualify two men and two women through the individual Olympic…

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