There can be times in which the structure of elite triathlon can be a little confusing.
The World Triathlon Championship Series represents the sharp end of the sport, with the World Cup being a run below and the Continental Cups a step below that. When people outside of triathlon hear the term “World Cup”, though, they can often be forgiven for mistaking that as the premier level of the sport.
Part of the issue here lies in the history of triathlon. In the 1990s, when the sport was starting to emerge into the Olympic format we know today, the World Cup was treated as the elite series for the best triathletes in the world. Alongside the World Cup, athletes would compete in an annual one-off World Championships to determine the best triathletes in the world.
The confusion began with the changes that took place in 2009 with the introduction of the World Triathlon Series. Now world champions would be determined over the course of the season and the primary competition of the sport would dovetail with the accolade of the world title.
The World Cups, however, were not scrapped. They were relegated to a tier below the WTCS.
Currently, the World Cups are an excellent development tool for athletes. It is often the case that athletes will make their mark on the World Cup level first before stepping up to the WTCS level. In 2022, for example, Manoel Messias won the World Cup in Valencia before stepping onto his first WTCS podium in Cagliari a month later.
To make the structure of the sport a little more integrated, one idea would be to have the WTCS as the premier division of elite triathlon. Perhaps 60 men and 60 women could be included, so that all athletes can race at any given WTCS event and in the cases of injury a few could not start and the field would not be reduced too much.
The World Cups would then represent the next tier of triathlon. This could be an open tier with National Federations able to send whichever athletes they choose to events, so long as they meet the relevant criteria as currently is the case.
The difference would be that WTCS athletes would not be allowed to race World Cups and vice versa. Instead, at the end of each season, a number of athletes (perhaps 9 to make it 15% of the WTCS field for arguments’ sake) would be “relegated” from the WTCS and the top-9 ranked athletes on the World Cup circuit would be promoted.
There are some immediate benefits to such an approach.
The first is that it would create an element of jeopardy to the lower half of the WTCS rankings. In all honesty, the financial compensation in triathlon is not the best compared to some other sports for a multitude of reasons. The difference between finishing 50th in the world and 55th is therefore not that significant.
In the event of relegation, though, suddenly the racing at the back of the race becomes that much more important and the outcomes more influential.
The World Cups would also acquire a new focus and potentially become even more competitive as athletes have to use them to step up to the highest level of the sport.
All of this crystallises the narratives of elite triathlon with greater clarity. The WTCS becomes that little bit more exclusive and elite, while the World Cups become that bit more competitive and urgent.
As WTCS athletes would not be able to race World Cups, they could turn to Continental Cups in the event they need race practice or sharpening, particularly at the start of the season. This would renew the Continental Cups by bringing a few more big names to that level in place of WTCS athletes looking for form on the World Cup level.
Like all things in life, there would be a couple of drawbacks to this method. One obvious one would be the restrictions placed upon World Cup athletes by not being exposed to WTCS racing. Over the medium term, this could limit the development of some athletes as exposure is perhaps the best way to accelerate learning and improvement.
On paper it would also be harder for a World Cup athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games too if they are in essence locked out of the top level of racing.
One thing worth noting on the Olympic front, though, is that World Cups currently count towards Olympic qualification so nothing would have to change on that front. While WTCS races earn more points towards world rankings and Olympic qualification, the World Cups are still a viable means of reaching the Games.
For most leading triathlon countries, it is unusual for athletes to qualify via the World Cup route. The majority of Olympic triathletes do so by competing at the WTCS level. The door would therefore not be shut on World Cup athletes, but rather it would reinforce the current status quo.
Another issue that emerges in this suggested structure is that athletes would theoretically be penalised for missing races or a season. In an ideal world, athletes would race as many WTCS races as possible, perhaps by limiting the calendar to a viable number of races.
Injuries, though, are inevitable in sport. Likewise, many athletes take breaks or choose to experiment with their racing. The post-Tokyo season has been a great example of this with the likes of Kristian Blummenfelt and Taylor Knibb dipping in and out of the WTCS.
That being said, such athletes would most likely be able to achieve the requisite number of WTCS points to protect their status in just one or two races, which is not a great demand of their time.
However, in the event that an athlete misses an entire WTCS season through injury or choice, maybe there could be a mechanism in which athletes could once in their career opt out of the WTCS and have their status protected. This would cover post-Olympic down years, pregnancy breaks (which could follow the same process as World Triathlon’s new maternity policy which will come into effect from 2023), and long-term injuries in most cases. The long-term injury point would also be similar to the “protected rankings” seen in tennis.
A final issue would be for the precocious youngsters in elite triathlon that may see their progress hindered by being “trapped” in the World Cup for an additional season or two. While it is rare for debutants to instantly have an impact on the WTCS level, a great example from 2022 alone is Emma Lombardi after she finished 4th in Yokohama and 2nd in Cagliari.
There are two solutions to the talented youngster conundrum. One route is that the field acknowledges that everyone has to earn their WTCS place and there are no shortcuts. Alternatively, the medallists at U23 World Championships are given automatic entry to the WTCS regardless of their World Cup ranking. For example, the U23 medallists in 2022 would earn their WTCS status for the 2023 season.
This would dramatically increase the value of those championships and once in the WTCS, the U23 medallists would have to earn the points to maintain their position, just like everyone else in the field.
Maybe nothing needs to be changed in elite triathlon, or maybe one answer to bringing order in the sport is to introduce promotion and relegation to the WTCS and World Cups.
Let us know what you think of the idea in the comments below or if there is another way you would go about evolving World Cup racing.
