Month: January 2024

Which U23 Athletes Will Be Ageing Up In 2024?

Benjamin Eastman

The U23 ranks of elite triathlon offer a degree of protection to its members. Throughout the sport, there is a kind of shared understanding that such athletes need time to further develop and that it would be unwise to expect too much of them at this stage in their career. The age-protected championships of the U23 level further reinforce the concept that the period is a time for development. Once an athlete ages up from the U23 category, though, they lose some of that developmental cover. Indeed, they enter a…

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Six Junior and U23 Athletes to Watch Out For in 2024

Benjamin Eastman

It is a new year and a new batch of talented athletes are primed to make their move on the international stage. In this article, we highlight six up and coming athletes that could make a splash this season. As a disclaimer, we are not calling the athletes named here the definitive best athletes in the Junior/U23 categories. Instead we are highlighting six that look to have particular promise going forward.  The athletes still have to be eligible to race in either the Junior or U23 categories in 2024, so…

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The Broken Crystal Ball: Our Improbable Predictions for 2024

Benjamin Eastman

At the start of the year, the season always looks ripe with possibility. Any of a number of things could occur; for instance, at the start of 2023, would anyone have anticipated an even more dramatic coming men’s WTCS Final than the one that preceded it? Sometimes, however, the crystal ball through which we see the future falters. One only needs to see our improbable predictions for 2023 to realise the extent to which the the crystal ball is broken. With that in mind, in this article we will delve…

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Karlsruhe and Neckarsulm To Join Forces in 2024 Bundesliga

Benjamin Eastman

While other teams have focused on bolstering their ranks through recruitment drives, two Bundesliga teams will be merging ahead of the upcoming season. Karlsruhe Lemminge finished 12th overall in the women’s series. The team were promoted after the 2022 season and had a successful first year in the top division. In the men’s competition, Sportunion Neckarsulm took 6th place. Heading into the final round, Neckarsulm sat in 4th place. However, a sub-optimal day at the last round in Hannover saw them drop two places. While Karlsruhe did not have a…

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Voters Back Men’s 2023 WTCS Podium Over 2021 Olympic Podium

Benjamin Eastman

The men’s field ahead of the 2024 season is brimming with talent. Any of about a dozen men could conceivably win a WTCS race and vie for a spot on the podium at the Paris Olympic Games. Such is the depth at the top of the sport, there has been a near-complete shift in the podium from the 2021 Olympics to the 2023 WTCS. Hayden Wilde was the only man to make both podiums and is the only constant in the top-4. Kristian Blummenfelt, Alex Yee and Marten Van Riel…

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Women’s 2023 WTCS Podium Favoured Over Tokyo Podium

Benjamin Eastman

Last week, we asked which of the women’s 2021 Olympic podium and the women’s 2023 overall WTCS podium you think will fare better in 2024. A trio of world champions made up the 2021 podium: Flora Duffy (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022), Georgia Taylor-Brown (2020) and Katie Zaferes (2019). Meanwhile, the 2023 podium contained a first-time world champion in Beth Potter. Moreover, it contained two athletes that had made the overall Series podium for the first time: Cassandre Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi. Only 36% (rounded to the nearest integer) favoured the…

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Triathletes Run Into 2024 With New Year’s Eve Races

Benjamin Eastman

Some choose to party their way into the New Year. Some choose to set off fireworks. Some choose to test their running fitness with a final race of the year. To celebrate the end of the year, multiple elite triathletes took on the third option as they competed in a variety of running races on the final day of 2023. In Auch, a contingent of French triathletes took on the 8.4km course at the Corrida d’Auch. Damian Andrada came out on top in a time of 25:25, beating out Thomas…

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