In light of our article about the stringent French criteria to race internationally, we thought we would look at the policies of their historic rivals: Great Britain (just don’t mention Agincourt).
Britain shares many of the features of the French selection system but with several crucial differences.
To start with, let’s take a look at how athletes start at certain levels. (The full plate of selection policies can be found here.)
In order to guide its selection for the WTCS, Britain uses both automatic and discretionary criteria. This itself is not considerably different to France. The big difference under the automatic criteria is that Britain assigns a priority order to the results.
For example, any athlete with a podium at the Tokyo Olympic Games is given the first priority.
Across 2022 and 2023, if a British athlete has achieved the following results, they can earn automatic starting rights into the WTCS:
- A podium at the Tokyo Olympic Games;
- A podium at the WTCS Grand Final;
- Multiple WTCS podiums;
- A podium at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games;
- A top 5 at the Tokyo Olympic Games;
- A podium in a WTCS race;
- A top 5 in a WTCS race;
- Multiple podiums at European Olympic Distance Championship / European Games / World U23 Championship / World Cup races;
- A top 8 in a WTCS race;
- A podium in the European Olympic Distance Championship / European Games / World U23 Championship / a World Cup race;
- A top 5 in the European Standard Distance Championship / European Games / World U23 Championship / a World Cup race;
- Multiple top-15 finishes in WTCS races.
Britain uses a descending priority order in part to guide substitutions at WTCS races. In addition, there is a discretionary component to selection.
Discretionary selection is detailed to cover eventualities such as an athlete coming back from injury, or to select an athlete who could help earn three slots for the Paris Olympics or an athlete with little relevant elite performance profile (think Lucy Charles-Barclay being added to WTCS start lists in 2021).
An obvious difference with the French system is the absence of the performance levels. With Britain, results from the previous year or so guide selection almost entirely. Thereafter selectors still have some wiggle room to add athletes that fit with their overarching strategy.
At the next rung of racing, World Cups, the same automatic-discretionary binary applies. The automatic criteria for World Cups include many of those that earn automatic selection into the WTCS. The difference at the World Cup level is the addition of the following criteria:
- A top 8 in the European Olympic Distance Championship / European Games / World U23 Championship / a World Cup race;
Or in the twelve months prior:
- A podium in the European Sprint Distance Championships / European U23 Championships / World Junior Championships / a European Cup race;
- A top 5 in the European Sprint Distance Championships / European U23 Championships / World Junior Championships / a European Cup race;
- Multiple podiums at British Senior Super Series races / European Junior Championship
The same discretionary clauses are used as those in the WTCS policy.
At the World Cup level, one of the big differences between the French and British systems is apparent. That is the absence of a performance index. Instead of adding limitations to events, the British model simply takes races at face value
Take the New Plymouth World Cup this year. A top-8 at that event would earn British athlete World Cup starting rights for the following season
However a top-8 at the same event would only earn French athlete the same right if it had a performance index of under 30. As New Plymouth did not hit that index, from a qualifying perspective it was a wasted trip, irrespective of the result of the athlete.
At the European Cup level, the automatic criteria match those of the World Cup, with a couple of extra points. An athlete can also earn selection if in the twelve months prior they have achieved:
- A podium in the European Sprint Distance Championships / European U23 Championships / World Junior Championships / a European Cup race;
- A top 5 in the European Sprint Distance Championships / European U23 Championships / World Junior Championships / a European Cup race;
- Multiple podiums at British Senior Super Series races / European Junior Championship;
- A top 8 in the European Sprint Distance Championships / European U23 Championships / World Junior Championships / a European Cup race;
- A podium in a British Senior Super Series race / European Junior Championship;
- A top 5 in the “designated Gateway event” / European Junior Championship;
- A top 8 in the “designated Gateway event” / European Junior Championship.
There are of course some similarities between the two systems. Both France and Britain reward Junior and U23 success. Indeed there is a clear pathway from the Junior and U23 ranks to eventually getting chances at the World Cup level.
Moreover, both models reward success at domestic races. In the French system, a top-10 finish at a French Grand Prix can earn an athlete the right to start at European Cups. Likewise British athletes can get into European Cups via the British Super Series or domestic “gateway” events.
At the same time, the British model even allows for success at the domestic Super Series to get an athlete into World Cups, which is a lot more generous than the French approach.
Furthermore, given that a higher number of international stars also race in the French Grand Prix (for instance, Mario Mola won the opening round in this year’s men’s series), a top-10 at such an event is arguably a harder criteria to hit than the British domestic equivalent.
Ultimately, the main difference between the British and French approaches is the elevation of athletes through the different stages of elite triathlon.
In Britain, World Cup medals or top-5 finishes can get you into the WTCS. Such criteria are not easy but they are not supposed to be. The key is there is a clearly defined means of moving up from one series of races to the next. Similarly a top-5 finish at a European Cup can get you into World Cup start lists.
There is not the same sense of elevation in the French model.
In addition there appears to be a slight cultural difference between the two countries insofar that French athletes are afforded fewer opportunities to prove they belong at the next level.
This lack of opportunity is often a driving factor behind athletes switching their nationalities from France. In recent years, the likes of Jeanne Lehair, Felix Duchampt, Margot Garabedian and more have switched.
France are not pressed for starting slots at the WTCS or World Cup level, they can send the athletes if they choose. Anecdotally at least, there is an impression that once an athlete has had their chance in their French system, that is it. This may be changing, though.
To characterise the differences between the two systems, then, British athletes have a series of defined ladders to climb to make it to the top. By contrast, French athletes have a number of hoops to jump through, some of which are on fire while others aren’t and some of which they later find out they did not have to jump through in the first place.
Given the success of both countries over the last few years, there is not really a way of saying which is better. On the one hand, the French system seems to cast its net a little tighter, but the medals are still flowing. The French system is more complicated, for sure, but does that make it a worse approach?
Moreover the differences between France and Britain are not major and there are plenty of commonalities between the two models. With only one World Cup race this year and a limited number of WTCS and European Cup races to rely on, a lot of these impressions come from 2022.
When athletes from Britain and France perform well at races this year, then, keep in mind what the results might mean for their careers. For a Brit, a big result could see them move up the ranks. However, for a French athlete, they may simply earn the right to tread water.
