Month: April 2024

Paris 2024 President Admits Olympic Swim Could Be Cancelled

Benjamin Eastman

Over the past twelve months, water quality has been a central talking point in the triathlon world. From the European Championships in Madrid to WTCS Sunderland to the Hong Kong World Cup, stories of swim cancellations and athlete sickness have become significant issues. One event, however, stands out above the rest. At last year’s Paris Olympic Test Event, doubts were raised over the safety of the water after the open water swimming test in the Seine was postponed due to safety concerns. The individual triathlon races took place as planned…

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Noelia Juan Earns Silver Medal At Spanish 10km Champs

Benjamin Eastman

As she continues her pursuit of making the Spanish Olympic team this summer, World Cup medallist Noelia Juan dropped a noteworthy performance at the Spanish 10km Road Running Championships. Juan clocked 34:56 to take home the silver medal in Crevillente. Her time stands as an improvement on the 35:34 she recorded over the same distance in Valencia back in January. As such, it signals that Juan’s fitness is progressing as the triathlon season gets underway. Moreover, as per World Athletics, her recent performance in Crevillente stands as a new personal…

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Van Der Merwe and Riddle Win in Nelson Mandela Bay

Benjamin Eastman

The first international Olympic distance race of the African season took place at the weekend with the African Cup in Nelson Mandela Bay. The South African event attracted several of the country’s biggest names, including Olympic medallist Henri Schoeman, and yielded some lively displays. Women’s race After three straight wins in 2024, Vicky Van Der Merwe arrived as the prohibitive favourite. Victories at the African Cups in Maselspoort and Swakopmund book-ended her African Games win in Accra. Alongside her double African Championships success in 2023, her recent form on the…

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Fan and Lu Secure Home Golds at Asian Sprint Champs

Benjamin Eastman

As well as playing a significant role on the road to the Paris Olympics, continental bragging rights were on offer at the Asian Sprint Championships in Dexing, China. In mild conditions, the home team looked to hold off significant threats, especially from the Japanese squad, while the New Flag race continued to burn between athletes from Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. With plenty of talent in the field, both races came down to tight finishes. Men’s race Tzu I Pan and Kyotaro Yoshikawa led the way in the swim. The two…

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Triathletes Throw Down at ASICS Festival of Running

Benjamin Eastman

It was a little under four months out from the real thing, but some of triathlon’s leading lights got a new taste for racing on the streets of Paris ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games. At the ASICS Festival of Running, WTCS medallists Leonie Periault and Annika Koch were among those to race. Periault took on the 10km while Koch stepped up to the plate over the 5km. Confronting the triathletes were top quality fields of established world-level runners. In the women’s 10km, Periault dropped a time of 32:29, earning…

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The Split Season For Oceania and Americas Junior Triathletes

Benjamin Eastman

One of the big changes to the international Junior season in 2024 is the realignment of the World Junior Championships with the WTCS Final, World Para-Triathlon Championships and World U23 Championships. In 2023, the World Junior Championships took place in July, at WTCS Hamburg, while the equivalent Senior, Para and U23 titles were handed out two months later at WTCS Pontevedra. Hitherto, all four titles were awarded at the same event. Indeed, the change only really came as a result of the pandemic. In 2019, Lausanne hosted the four world…

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March Madness Follows After Cancellation Of WTCS Abu Dhabi

Benjamin Eastman

When WTCS Abu Dhabi was cancelled at the start of March, there was a hole in the international triathlon calendar. After months of delicate planning, the best-laid designs of athletes, coaches and federations alike suddenly had to be shelved and redrawn. Most significantly, the cancellation sounded the starting gun on the scramble that followed. For a variety of reasons – such as in service of Olympic qualification or simply getting their season started – those that had been due to race in Abu Dhabi rushed to find alternative races. World…

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Ka’eo Kruse and Leslie Amat strike gold in Vina del Mar

Benjamin Eastman

The latest Continental Cup of the season took place at the weekend with Americas Cup in Vina del Mar. With the athletes competing over the Sprint distance, brisk conditions were on offer with both the air and water temperature under 15 degrees (Celsius). On a fast course, though, the winners certainly brought the heat on the run. Men’s race The Brazilian duo Victor Hugo Lopes Pereira Da Silva and Pedro Felipe Souza Fernandes Silva set the pace in the water and emerged together with the early lead. Tracking them were…

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The Takeaways From The Inaugural Lievin World Cup

Benjamin Eastman

In addition to the stirring wins by Laura Lindemann and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, there was plenty to unpack at the first ever indoor World Cup. Read on to find some of the main takeaways from Lievin. The format The obvious point to start is with the format itself. The racing at Lievin presented a novel challenge to the athletes (notwithstanding those that had tackled the same event at the European Cup level) but one clear positive could be found in the venue. The stadium setting provided the perfect raucous atmosphere,…

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April Fools’: France to receive fourth men’s slot at Paris Olympics

Benjamin Eastman

Note: this was an April Fools’ joke. Heading into the Olympic season, the home French team faced an invidious situation. After the outstanding performances by Dorian Coninx and Pierre Le Corre, as they claimed 1st and 3rd, respectively, at last year’s WTCS Final in Pontevedra, two-thirds of France’s male Olympic triathlon slots had been allocated. With the team in line to earn the maximum three slots, this created a problem. One of Vincent Luis, the 2019 and 2020 world champion, and Leo Bergere, the 2022 world champion, would have to…

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