As we enter the new WTCS season, two athletes will do so with a four medal streak behind them. Should either land on the podium at the season opener in Abu Dhabi, they could enter rarefied territory.
Beth Potter arrives on the back of a 2023 run that saw her claim gold in Montreal, silver in Hamburg, gold in Paris and gold in Pontevedra. After winning WTCS Abu Dhabi last year, she will be confident of earning a fifth consecutive medal in the Series.
Cassandre Beaugrand is in the same position. A gold medal in Hamburg preceded another gold in Sunderland. Thereafter, she won silver Paris and bronze in Pontevedra. Another medal would thus take her streak to five too.
Should either Potter or Beaugrand manage to finish on the podium in Abu Dhabi, they will insert themselves into a select group. Only five women have completed a streak of five or more medals in WTCS history.
Gwen Jorgensen towers above the rest. Her best streak was a run of eighteen medals that started at WTCS Cape Town in 2014. The last medal of her streak came in WTCS Cozumel, whereupon she retired. Technically, she could have extended her streak when she made her comeback to the Series last season, although it was not to be.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, Flora Duffy and Emma Mofffat all have hit eight-race medal streaks before, while Katie Zaferes is the final member of the group with seven straight medals.
Alongside Potter and Beaugrand, five women have completed streaks of four medals. Lisa Norden, Andrea Hansen, Helen Jenkins, Jodie Stimpson and Anne Haug managed to do so, with the most recent being Jenkins in 2014.
As such, Potter and Beaugrand have already made history with their 2023 performances and are on runs that match some of the all-time greats. The question now is how far can they go?
Separately, Flora Duffy is on the same three race streak that she was at the end of 2022. When she next races in the WTCS, she will have a chance to build upon it.
Meanwhile, there are no men in the WTCS with an active medal winning streak of three races or more. However, last year Alex Yee completed a four race medal streak. He therefore joins some of the most illustrious names in WTCS history in achieving the feat.
Jonathan Brownlee (thirteen medals), Alistair Brownlee (ten medals), Javier Gomez Noya (eight medals), Mario Mola (seven medals), Vincent Luis (four medals) and Hayden Wilde (four medals) were the only other men to have managed a similar or longer streak.
Interestingly, Wilde’s four meal streak in 2022 made him the only man to have completed the feat without (yet) winning a world title at some point. Yee is now in the same position. Furthermore, Wilde repeated a four race medal streak in 2023. He won in Yokohama, finished 2nd in Cagliari, won in Hamburg and then placed 3rd in Sunderland. As he only matched, rather than improved upon his previous best, it does not replace his spot in the ranking.
Yee’s four race streak came through his gold in Abu Dhabi, gold in Cagliari, bronze in Hamburg and gold in Paris. As both Yee and Wilde missed the podium at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra, neither are on an active streak.
Six men (Joao Silva, Richard Murray, Fernando Alarza, Kristian Blummenfelt, Léo Bergere and Jan Frodeno) have completed three medal streaks in their WTCS careers. One man that could join them is Dorian Coninx. The world champion is on a two race medal streak after finishing 3rd in Paris and 1st in Pontevedra. Indeed, he is the only man with an active streak (as defined by more than one medal).
Winning another medal in Abu Dhabi would put Coninx in a very select club, although he will need two more medals to join the likes of Potter, Beaugrand, Yee and Wilde.
