Category: Athletes

Five Fast Junior Men That Will Age Up in 2024

Benjamin Eastman

Having delved into some of the prominent rising Junior women to watch this season, today it is the turn of the men. The class of athletes that left the Junior ranks at the end of the 2023 was nothing short of stacked. The focus here is on those that can be projected to make more of an immediate impact at the U23 and Senior levels. To that end, emphasis has been placed upon championship racing and Senior racing. Performances at Junior Cups are another important marker, and have also been…

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Looking Back At How The Rising Junior Women of 2023 Fared

Benjamin Eastman

Yesterday we flagged five promising female athletes that graduated from the Junior ranks at the turn of the year. However, identifying rising prospects is one thing. What happens next is something else entirely. It is therefore instructive to wind back a year to take a look at the equivalent list from the start of 2023. Another cohort of talented athletes had just aged out of Junior racing and were looking to make their mark on the U23 and Senior levels. Being only their first year in the post-Junior environment, it…

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Five Fast Junior Women That Will Age Up in 2024

Benjamin Eastman

Recently, we took a look at some of the leading U23 athletes that aged up at the turn of the year. Today, we are turning our attention to those that could replace the rising U23 stars by surveying some of the standout female athletes that have now left the Junior ranks. When compiling this list, two key elements came into consideration. In general, we have placed a greater emphasis on championship racing and Senior racing when assessing the athletes to watch. Performances at Junior Cups are an important marker at…

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How Did The 2022 World U23 Medallists Get On In 2023?

Benjamin Eastman

Having pondered what the medallists from the most recent World U23 Championships might accomplish this season, it is fitting to turn the clock back a year to the podiums of the equivalent championships in 2022. How the medallists from 2022 fared in 2023 can offer a small insight into what could be expected from their 2023 counterparts in 2024. Moreover, they offer intrigue in and of themselves. While it was only one season in what are otherwise young careers, there is plenty to unearth. This time last year, the athletes…

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What To Expect From The Reigning World U23 Medallists

Benjamin Eastman

With success comes attention. Winning a medal at the World U23 Championships is a surefire way to put oneself on the triathlon map. Such athletes generally draw greater scrutiny over the subsequent years of their careers and many, such as the current men’s world champion, go on to achieve even greater success. In this article, we will take a look at the medallists from the most recent edition of the World U23 Championships and forecast what might be expected from each this year. One point to note is that the…

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Which U23 Athletes Will Be Ageing Up In 2024?

Benjamin Eastman

The U23 ranks of elite triathlon offer a degree of protection to its members. Throughout the sport, there is a kind of shared understanding that such athletes need time to further develop and that it would be unwise to expect too much of them at this stage in their career. The age-protected championships of the U23 level further reinforce the concept that the period is a time for development. Once an athlete ages up from the U23 category, though, they lose some of that developmental cover. Indeed, they enter a…

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Six Junior and U23 Athletes to Watch Out For in 2024

Benjamin Eastman

It is a new year and a new batch of talented athletes are primed to make their move on the international stage. In this article, we highlight six up and coming athletes that could make a splash this season. As a disclaimer, we are not calling the athletes named here the definitive best athletes in the Junior/U23 categories. Instead we are highlighting six that look to have particular promise going forward.  The athletes still have to be eligible to race in either the Junior or U23 categories in 2024, so…

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Who Was The Junior Female Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

Whereas a World Junior and European Junior title was enough to earn the mantle of the top Junior male triathlete of 2023, it is curiously not the case with the women. It may be a little inconsistent, and perhaps even a little controversial. After all, the athlete that won both titles could not have won a more important race at the Junior level. However, the top athlete here is actually one that did not take part in a single Junior race this season. Instead, the Junior Female Triathlete of 2023…

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Who Was The Junior Male Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

Having assessed the top performances and the top athletes of each continent for 2023, we come to our final look back of the season. In this article, we are looking to the future as much as we are to the past, in a way, as we will attempt to determine which man was the best Junior triathlete of the year. The levels attained by Junior triathletes have been plain scary at times this season and the next generation looks to be seriously talented. Among the many contenders for the title…

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Who Was The Oceania Female Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

In 2023, there was a dominant force on the women’s Oceania triathlon scene. During the Antipodean season, one athlete proved untouchable at every race they attended. Thereafter, they went on to be the region’s best performer at the WTCS level. For combining local dominance and world-level success, there was thus no real question over who would be dubbed the Oceania Female Triathlete of 2023. Nicole Van Der Kaay (NZL) Nicole Van Der Kaay was superlative in the early part of the season. She crushed the Oceania Cups in Wanaka and…

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Who Was The Oceania Male Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

Oceania was one of two regions to have multiple WTCS race winners in 2023. With two men stepping onto the top of the podium, the continent was actually the only one after Europe to be home to a race winner. Given the rarity of a non-European race winner this season, either of the two gold medallists could make a claim to being the continent’s top triathlete. One of them, though, operated on an exceptional level this season and was only narrowly denied the world title. Hayden Wilde (NZL) Hayden Wilde…

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Who Was The European Female Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

Only one athlete won five WTCS medals in 2023 and in doing so she claimed the world title. As such, the situation here is fairly clear. Much as it is easy to know what to do when the Macarena plays on the dancefloor, the choice of the European Female Triathlete of the Year was similarly bereft of difficulty. Beth Potter (GBR) Abu Dhabi. Montreal. Paris. Pontevedra. Four WTCS wins in 2023 put Beth Potter on a different plane to anyone else in the world of triathlon and established her as…

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Who Was The European Male Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

The European men are tricky. Not only are there too many successful stories from 2023 to sift through, but the nature of the different stories means that any determination of the top athlete is incredibly subjective, potentially even more than usual. Such has been their collective form, several European men make strong claims to have had a better year than the literal world champion. You could close your eyes and pick at random from any of the men listed and still easily defend their status as the top European man.…

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Who Was The Asian Female Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

The same combination of an Asian Games gold and being the continent’s leading WTCS performer that made Kenji Nener the Asian Male Triathlete of the Year was enough to determine the recipient of the female mantle. One achievement that the women’s winner added was a World Cup medal, ensuring that she ticked several boxes in 2023. Yuko Takahashi (JPN) Yuko Takahashi arrived in Hangzhou as the defending Asian Games champion. After a superb swim, she all but shut the door on anyone taking her title before anyone else had made…

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Who Was The Asian Male Triathlete Of The Year 2023

Benjamin Eastman

After a simply dominant performance at the Asian Games, there was only one man that could really be named the Asian Male Triathlete of the Year. Given the same athlete was the continent’s top performer in the WTCS and the only individual from the region to log a top-10 finish in the Series, his case was close to inarguable. Kenji Nener (JPN) At the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Kenji Nener was on a different level. He dropped one of the best bike rides of season to build a 3…

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