Year: 2024

First Look at the Hong Kong World Cup 2024 Start Lists

Benjamin Eastman

The second World Cup of the season is drawing onto the horizon. Like the first stop of the year in Napier, the racing will take place in a new location as Hong Kong hosts its first event at the world level. Having successfully welcomed Asia Cup races beforehand, the World Cup will no doubt offer a similarly smooth experience. Another Sprint distance outing will be on offer and, with the race falling a smidge over two months before the end of the Olympic qualification window, there will be invaluable ranking…

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Will Flora Duffy Race In The 2024 World Triathlon Series?

Benjamin Eastman

In a little of a fortnight, the 2024 WTCS will kick off in Abu Dhabi. However, one of the most illustrious athletes in the Series will not be in attendance. Indeed, four-time world champion Flora Duffy may not actually start at any WTCS events this year. While her attempt to become the first woman to defend an Olympic title appears to be very much on the agenda, the WTCS may fall by the wayside. Notwithstanding Duffy’s dabbling with long distance triathlon, which forms a separate focus, her absence from the…

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Home New Zealand Team Faces Array Of Threats In Napier

Benjamin Eastman

New Zealand is famously a country without natural predators on land. Notwithstanding the few birds of prey that are indigenous to the region, the majority of the threats to native fauna have been imported. In many ways, the New Zealand triathlon scene is similar. Being a smaller country in the grand scheme of things, the New Zealand team has to carefully nature the few birds of prey that come its way. Last season, Nicole Van Der Kaay took the win at the New Plymouth World Cup and gave a clear…

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Another Wilde Homecoming Forecasted In New Zealand

Benjamin Eastman

With the first World Cup of 2024 comes the chance to make a statement. Perhaps more than any other athlete in the men’s field, Hayden Wilde will be the one to take advantage of the opportunity. Last season, Wilde won the first World Cup of the year. As with Napier this weekend, the event also took place in his home country (in New Plymouth). With home crowds expected to gee him on, another Wilde win seems a likely outcome. Wearing number 1, Wilde is the only WTCS gold medallist from…

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Beisenbayev and Carr Too Strong For Field In Troutbeck

Benjamin Eastman

Troutbeck, Zimbabwe, was the host of the third Continental Cup of the weekend. Whereas the dramatic affairs in Wanaka and La Guaira were won on the run, the Sprint distance African Cup saw both gold medals secured with exceptional performances on the bike. Men’s race Ayan Beisenbayev arrived in Zimbabwe locked in a tight race for the Asian New Flag slot at the Olympic Games. At this point, every win and medal will be vital on his quest to make it to Paris and he had the chance to start…

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Slupek Continues Streak as Duchampt Wins in La Guaira

Benjamin Eastman

The first Olympic distance race on the international circuit took place yesterday in La Guaira, Venezuala. Last year’s men’s winner, Rodrigo Gonzalez, was back to hunt for another gold medal, although several rivals were ready for him. In hot and humid conditions, the racing was certainly not the gentlest start to the season. Women’s race Roksana Slupek arrived in Venezuela on the back of a two race winning streak, having claimed victories at two African Cups at the end of 2023. The Christmas break clearly did her form no harm…

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Zane and Crociani Seal Italian Double At Wanaka Oceania Cup

Benjamin Eastman

The first international triathlon of 2024 took place in Wanaka, New Zealand, yesterday (notwithstanding the Oceania Para-triathlon Championships that took place earlier in the month). In spite of the early time of year, there were several rapid performances over the Sprint distance event. Women’s race In a slightly surprising turn of events, Emma Jeffcoat did not lead out the swim. Rather, her Australian teammate Zoey Clarke was the quickest in the first discipline, clocking 8:47 for the 750m. Jeffcoat was 4 seconds back and emerged at the head of a…

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Which Women Could Win Their First WTCS Medal in 2024?

Benjamin Eastman

Yesterday we surveyed some of the men that could win their first WTCS medal this season and today we are doing the same for the women’s field. Winning a medal at a WTCS event is one of the chief ambitions of rising short course triathletes and the examples of last year offer plenty of encouragement for such athletes heading into 2024. Three women won medals for the first time last year. Among the first time winners was Kate Waugh, an individual identified as possible medallists at the start of the season. (No…

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Which Men Could Win Their First WTCS Medal In 2024?

Benjamin Eastman

It is the ultimate aspiration of every athlete coming through the ranks of short distance triathlon to step upon the podium at a WTCS race. Winning a medal in the Series is a major challenge yet in the past couple of years a handful athletes have turned their ambitions into reality. With WTCS Abu Dhabi a little over three weeks away, today we are surveying some of the candidates that could win their first WTCS medal in 2024. To go with that, we will also suggest the course that we think offers…

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Poll Respondents Cast Doubt Over Olympic-WTCS Double

Benjamin Eastman

At the weekend, we asked if anyone believed that an athlete might complete the double of winning Olympic gold and WTCS gold in 2024. The double has proven an elusive feat, with only Flora Duffy and Kristian Blummenfelt having achieved it (both in 2021). Across the five previous Olympic cycles, none of the athletes that claimed Olympic gold won the corresponding world title. Even Duffy and Blummenfelt were aided to a degree insofar that the Tokyo Olympics counted towards the 2021 season’s WTCS. Looking ahead to 2024, the TriStats audience…

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The 2024 Triathlon Season Kicks Off This Weekend

Benjamin Eastman

While the Para-triathlon season has officially started, the road to the Paris Olympic Games will get going this weekend. Three Continental Cups on three continents will launch the 2024 season as a wave of athletes strive to enjoy their best campaigns yet. For some, that will mean qualifying for the Olympic Games. For others, it might mean making a WTCS debut or winning a medal at a Continental Championship, World Cup, or Continental Cup. Originally, four Continental Cups were scheduled for this weekend however the Asia Cup in Port Blair…

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How to Win the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series

Benjamin Eastman

The start of the 2024 World Triathlon Championships Series is less than a month out and an important question has to be asked. How will the world champion be decided? Since 2009, short course triathlon has used the WTCS to determine the world champion as opposed to the single day world championships that was used hitherto. The athletes will race over the course of a season and, if the past couple of years are anything to go by, the victor may not become apparent until the final day. The key…

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Will Anyone Complete The Olympics-WTCS Double In 2024?

Benjamin Eastman

Winning Olympic gold and the WTCS is a phenomenally difficult task. Only two athletes (Flora Duffy and Kristian Blummenfelt, both in 2021) have managed to complete the double, although each had idiosyncrasies in their achievements that should be noted. Looking ahead to 2024, the question to be asked is will anyone from the current batch of contenders achieve the double? Alex Yee has six WTCS wins in two years and an Olympic silver medal but as yet has not won a world title. Similarly, Hayden Wilde has four WTCS wins…

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Winning the Olympic and WTCS Titles in the Same Year

Benjamin Eastman

Winning Olympic gold is extraordinarily difficult. More people climbed Mount Everest in 2023 alone (600 summits by 250 clients and 350 sherpas) than the number of athletes that can win an Olympic triathlon gold medal in the 21st century. When viewed in the bigger picture, the demands of timing and then producing one’s top performance on a given day in a four year cycle are brutal. Winning the WTCS is a different challenge. Rather than peaking on a single day, an athlete must be at their best across an entire…

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The TriStats Top 30 Triathletes 2024 – Women: 6-1

Benjamin Eastman

Finally, we come to the end of the Top 30 triathletes and in this article we have the picks of the bunch. At this stage in time, the six women listed below can be called the best in the World Triathlon Championship Series. All are realistic candidates to win Olympic gold and for anyone other than them to win it would be an upset (save, perhaps, for Flora Duffy who took 7th in the ranking). Distinguishing between these athletes is no mean feat and each individual has a glittering track…

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