Annika Koch has been a name to watch for some time.
Last year, she won a silver medal at the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi, improving on the bronze medal she earned in 2021. To go with that, she enjoyed World Cup success in 2022, taking gold in Huatulco and claiming silver in Tongyeong.
By most metrics, then, she entered 2023 as an athlete with plenty of promise and a growing pile of medals.
This summer, however, she has exploded to a new level. At WTCS Hamburg, she claimed a stunning 4th place to blow away her previous best performance.
“I knew that the format would suit me pretty well because I really like the fast but short stuff,” said Koch. “I had never done a race like it before so I wasn’t 100% sure how it would go but I was confident.”
A week prior to Hamburg, Koch had finished 4th at the German Championships. On the WTCS stage, she overturned the result, beating all three women that had crossed ahead of her in Düsseldorf.
“During the qualifier I already felt strong and got a lot of confidence from that. It is always so special with a home crowd and its such a good race.”
Throughout the weekend, Koch’s confidence only grew.
“From race to race I was happy. I thought ‘I have a top-30, that’s great’. Then that became a top-20 and then in the last stage I knew it would be a top-10 and by far my best WTCS race. So I was already so happy. Enjoying it might be the wrong word but I had a lot of fun on the final stage.”
When all was said and done, she had obliterated her previous best finish of 20th and put herself at the front of a deep pool of German talent. After such a big weekend, some athletes may have experienced a lull. Koch, however, continued to rise.
A bronze medal at WTCS Sunderland followed. Then she stormed to victory at the Yeongdo World Cup.
Based on form, she suddenly looked to be the leading German triathlete. Yet there was a slight snag in her rise. Her burst of success had come too late to get her onto the start list for the Paris Olympic Test Event. As a result, Koch had to watch from the sidelines as five of her domestic rivals took the first shot at making the German Olympic team.
“It was pretty difficult,” said Koch of not being able to race. “I knew six weeks before that I would not make it to the start list unless a German girl withdrew. So the chances were low. I had so many good races and such good form, now I just want to focus on myself and keep going and do the races I can.”
Watching the race itself likewise brought about a sense of frustration.
“I felt I could be there and it was hard to watch all the girls racing while I was sitting there.”
In the end, Laura Lindemann and Nina Eim qualified for the Paris Olympics after finishing 3rd and 6th, respectively. Of the likely three Olympic slots, two are now gone and Koch never got a chance to stake her claim. Not one to dwell on the missed opportunity, Koch is looking ahead to the WTCS Final in Pontevedra where a top-8 finish (and being the best non-qualified German woman) will earn her a place on the Paris team.
At the same time, while Koch’s ascent has marked her out as a potential star, it is also important to remember how young she is.
“First of all I’m so grateful that I’ll get the opportunity to start there,” she said. Her win in Yeongdo proved key in tipping her into the start list.
“I’m happy with the decisions I made! The moment I got onto the start list I was so happy and so thankful because I knew I would have one chance to get that one ticket.”
For most athletes fresh out of the U23 ranks like Koch, a first WTCS Final would be a learning experience before all else. Koch, though, has a clear objective and is completely dialled in on the Final.
“Before I had the 4th and 3rd place, I thought it would be great just to start at the Final. Now I know I can really do it and that I can get the spot. I have two top-5 finishes in the WTCS now so I am confident of hitting the top-8.”
Koch’s summer offers an insight into the magic of momentum and the importance of self-belief at the highest level. When races at the WTCS level are separated by fine margins – such as the correct spike of power on the bike out of T1 – the psychological aspect can prove pivotal.
Within the rounds of WTCS Hamburg and then on a larger scale across the summer, the strengthening of Koch’s self-belief has been an important feature of her success.
“I always believed that I could be a good athlete but in the WTCS I never really had a good race. My best result was 20th before and I was always a bit unsure and not very confident in the WTCS. After Hamburg, I knew I could do it and that I could do it again.”
The relationship between self-belief and performance is an interesting one to crack. Even in Koch’s case, it is hard to say what really came first. Did she start believing in herself more because of her results, or did her results come before she her self-belief had grown? It is a classic chicken-and-egg question and the answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
The note of confidence brings her next race. This weekend she will tackle the final Bundesliga race of the year in Hannover. Given her form, Koch will be among the favourites to win the race, yet the series was not always so simple.
“When I was younger, the Bundesliga races were the ones I was nervous for because they had all the big girls. Now they are a lot of fun. I really enjoy the races in the Bundesliga. It’s with the team and there’s not so much pressure. It’s really different.”
Perhaps, in time, Koch will be saying the same of the WTCS.
For now, though, her mission in Pontevedra is simple. Armed with her self-belief and outstanding form, it would be no surprise to Annika Koch turn her breakthrough summer into something even bigger.
