The next World Cup is on the horizon as the 2024 season begins to ramp up.
As things stand, the race has attracted fairly small start lists. One factor behind this may be the travel involved. The Olympic qualification window closes a little over a month after Wollongong and so several athletes may be loath to compromise their final training block ahead of the May WTCS and World Cup events.
Nevertheless, Wollongong will hold significance beyond the 2024 season. The event will welcome the triathlon world for the World Cup as a test ahead of hosting the 2025 WTCS Final. This time round, the racing will take place over the Sprint distance and several clues may be on offer for how the 2025 Final may unfold.
Who’s there?
As to be expected, a significant Australian contingent is slated to race.
Headlining the men’s field is Matthew Hauser. The WTCS race winner will be taking on his first world-level event on his path to the Paris Olympics (the week before Wollongong he is also due to contest the Oceania Championships in Taupo). A win at the World Cup would certainly send a warning shot to his rivals.
Among the men joining Hauser from the home team are Napier World Cup winner Callum McClusky, Luke Willian and the reigning Oceania champion Brad Course.
From across the Tasman Sea, Tayler Reid, Saxon Morgan and Janus Staufenberg will look to rain on the home parade just as the Australian team did with their triple gold (across the men’s, women’s and relay events) in Napier.
Luxembourg are the only other team to send more than two men. They will be represented by Bob Haller, Gregor Payet and Stefan Zachaeus. Meanwhile, several teams will be sending double acts to Wollongong. Richard Murray and Ian Pennenkamp are slated to race for the Dutch team while Diego Moya and Gaspar Riveros will start for Chile.
Tjebbe Kaindl and Leon Pauger are due to represent Austria. Shachar Sagiv and Itamar Eshed will start for Israel. Hungary will send World Cup medallists Gábor Faldum and Márk Dévay.
Among those to be the only men racing for their country are Ben Dijkstra, Jonas Schomburg, Gabriel Sandör, Felix Duchampt and Kyotaro Yoshikawa.
Somewhat surprisingly, Sophie Linn, the Australian winner in Napier, will not start in Wollongong. Her absence will open the door for some of her compatriots to stake their claim before the national selectors. To that end, the likes of Natalie Van Coevorden, Emma Jeffcoat, Jaz Hedgeland and Charlotte McShane will need to be watched.
Canada will have four women travelling to Australia as a quartet of Amelie Kretz, Sophie Howell, Desirae Ridenour and Dominika Jamnicky appear on the start list.
As with their men’s team, New Zealand will be sending three female athletes. World Cup medallist Ainsley Thorpe will lead Eva Goodisson and Olivia Thornbury. Similarly, Hungary have opted to enter two women – the same as their men’s team – as Márta Kropkó and Zsófia Kovács will start.
Slovakia will have a trio of starters in the form of Ivana Kuriackova, Zuzana Michalickova and Romana Gajdošová.
Finally, there are plenty of athletes that will be journeying to Wollongong as the only female entrant from the country. Included in this group are Erica Hawley, Lisa Perterer, Valerie Barthelemy, Elizabeth Bravo, Tereza Zimovjanova, Anne Holm and double World Cup gold medallist Tilda Månsson.
Main talking points
Sian Rainsley
One athlete yet to be mentioned from the start list is Sian Rainsley. She will be the only female representative on the British team yet her presence ensures that Britain have a legitimate gold medal contender.
Rainsley is coming off the back of a maiden World Cup in Hong Kong, a performance that contained several impressive details. In addition to being her first race of the season, Rainsley defeated a stacked field. During the run, she out-duelled the likes of Katie Zaferes and Kirsten Kasper to take the win.
Perhaps the most eye-catching detail, though, was how Rainsley rebounded from being dropped from the British national squad at the end of last year. She will therefore look to build upon her Hong Kong performance and send further reminders of her class to the British selectors.
Home Olympic race
In some ways, Wollongong will almost act as a referendum on the Olympic hopes for many on the home team. Only Hauser has currently booked his Olympic berth, leaving two women’s slots and one men’s slot to be filled.
There will be few clearer opportunities over the next two months for the Australian athletes to prove themselves against their direct rivals. The Oceania Championships will naturally offer another chance but, as a World Cup, Wollongong will provide a better field and may therefore count for more in the eyes of the selectors.
Another win by Sophie Linn could have made her case for Olympic selection inarguable but her absence may actually open the door for someone else. Meanwhile, Luke Willian will hope to build on a 4th place in Hong Kong to prove that he is the man to join Hauser in Paris.
One big race
The shadow of the Olympics will not only hang over the home team. No fewer than a dozen men and women locked in tight Olympic races will be starting. Whether on the outer fringes of qualification through the Olympic rankings or through the New Flag procedure, plenty of athletes will be able to take a step closer to Paris in Wollongong.
Some of the athletes are provisional occupants of qualifying slots. For example, Felix Duchampt should secure European men’s New Flag but he realistically needs another big performance to lock it in.
Similarly, with regards to the Olympic rankings, Jamie Riddle has a hold on a qualifying slot and is currently one of the last men in. He should nonetheless make it but one big race could bolster his chances. Tjebbe Kaindl is even more at risk; as things stand he is the last qualifier through the Olympic rankings before the New Flag procedure starts.
Gaspar Riveros, Gregor Payet and Badr Siwane are fighting for the same Olympic slot that could be freed up by Oceania not having an eligible male New Flag candidate. Any high finishes by them in Wollongong, though, could also see them close the gap to Kaindl or Riddle (and jump ahead of the New Flag procedure).
Likewise, among the women’s starts in Wollongong, Perterer, Jamnicky and Hawley are the three last women currently due to qualify for Paris through the Olympic rankings.
Moreover, Kuriackova and Michalickova will also look to earn a slot for for Slovakia. The former’s best shot will be through the New Flag system. However, the latter is primed to maybe take a spot through the rankings. Should Michalickova do so, she will shut the door on Kuriackova’s New Flag aspirations.
When it comes to Olympic aspirations, one big performance in Wollongong could yet change everything.
You can view the full start lists here.
