The World Cup series will be shifting across to Asia in August, starting with the rescheduled Yeongdo World Cup. The event was originally due to take place in May, a week before WTCS Yokohama. Under the original plans, athletes racing in Yokohama would have been able to combine the race with the Yeongdo event.
As well as being convenient geographically, it would have kept the Yeongdo event in the First Period of Olympic Qualification.
However, following the postponement, the event was shifted to less than two weeks before the Paris Test Event. As the Test Event forms a major part of Olympic selection for several countries, the likelihood was that many athletes would prioritise Paris and forego the trip to South Korea.
That appears to be the case based on the current iteration of the start lists. Although a handful of World Cup medallists will be present, many established names have chosen to pass on Yeongdo.
Who’s there
Anahi Alvarez Corral, the winner of the Huatulco World Cup, will be one of the main attractions in the women’s field. A blistering runner at her best, Alvarez will be difficult to beat at the Sprint distance event. Joining her on the Mexican team will be Cecilia Perez, Sofia Rodriguez Moreno and Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez.
Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto of Colombia will also be racing. Having recently finished 10th on debut at WTCS Montreal, the World Cup medallist will look to continue her rise through the world rankings. A well-rounded athlete, Velasquez could prove the primary rival to Alvarez.
A deep Japanese team will be participating in Yeongdo. After two wins at Asia Cup events this year, Niina Kishimoto will be among the favourites. She has already won a race in South Korea this year, having triumphed in Sejong. Look for her to make a splash in Yeongdo.
The likes of Yuka Sato, Juri Ide, Miyu Sakai and Minori Ikeno will all challenge Kishimoto, though. Whoever comes out on top in the race among the Japanese team could find themselves on the overall podium.
After a dominant performance at the Lianyungang Asia Cup, Tara Sosinski will be making her World Cup debut. Sosinski only has four international starts to her name at this point in her career, although she will be racing in Larache at the African Cup this weekend. Having confirmed her potential with her statement win in China, she will likely be able to make the step up to the World Cup level look smooth.
Charlotte Derbyshire will be the second Australian women on the team.
Erica Hawley of Bermuda and Amelie Kretz of Canada should be in the mix for the medals in Yeongdo. Meanwhile, Hye Rim Jeong and Ji Yeon Kim lead the home team.
The men’s field appears to be rather open. The early favourite will be Lasse Nygaard Priester. The winner of the Karlovy Vary World Cup in 2021, Priester also has earned two finishes in the top-5 of WTCS races (in Hamburg and Leeds).
This season, Priester has a win at Bundesliga Schliersee to his name and the Sprint distance should play to his strengths.
Chris Ziehmer and Eric Diener are the other two men due to start from Germany.
Priester will not have it all his own way, though. Oscar Dart of Australia will be a threat. Dart has claimed two Asia Cup wins this season and has the speed on the run to trouble the German.
Moreover, the American trio of Kevin McDowell, Brent Demarest and Ka’eo Kruse should all provide stiff opposition. McDowell has not quite returned to the high of his 6th place finish at the Tokyo Olympic Games, although he did finish 10th at WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Cagliari in 2022.
On his day, he will be a handful for anyone and will likely be in the conversation for the win. Whereas McDowell has enjoyed some major career highs like Tokyo, Kruse is at a very different stage in his career.
Still fairly new to the sport and half a dozen years younger than McDowell, Kruse is still progressing through the ranks and only made his World Cup debut in Huatulco. With less than ten international races to his name, experience is not on his side. However, he is a fantastic runner and could be a thorn in the side of several other favourites in Yeongdo.
Daniel Dixon and Max Stapley will be Britain’s representatives in South Korea. Both can head to Yeongdo with confidence after finishing 6th and 10th at the French Grand Prix in Metz.
Japan’s race to Paris will continue in Yeongdo. Jumpei Furuya should be with the leaders after his recent Asia Cup wins. Aoba Yasumatsu also won in Sejong. With the likes of Ren Sato, Takumi Hojo, Makoto Odakura, and Kyotaro Yoshikawa starting, though, it will be battle to be the first Japanese man across the line.
Ji Hwan Kim and Jaehyeon Jo will be starting for South Korea.
From further afield, Americas Cup winners Kauê Willy, Martin Sobey and Aiden Longcroft-Harris will all be starting. Ramón Armando Matute and Gabriel Terán Carvajal will also continue their hunt for an Olympic New Flag slot for Ecuador.
Main talking points
Olympic points for Alvarez
Anahi Alvarez Corral currently lies in 67th in the Olympic qualification rankings. As such, she is third among the Mexican women.
Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal and Lizeth Rueda Santos are both in the top-30 and sit in 14th and 29th, respectively. The challenge for Alvarez, then, is simple. If she can rise into the top-30 of the Olympic rankings, Mexico will be able to send three women to the Paris Olympic Games.
As things stand, she is about 1000 points away from making that happen. A win in Yeongdo, though, would be worth 375 points. Having won the Huatulco World Cup, Alvarez will be the favourite. With another win, she could suddenly find herself considerably closer to going to Paris
Old man strength
Age is just a number.
In recent years, though, it has seemed that youth has been the watchword of World Triathlon. Notwithstanding Flora Duffy’s sustained success, it has become a more frequent sight to see athletes in their 20s stand atop world-level podiums.
In Yeongdo, several men will look to change that.
Born in 1986, Irving Perez is the oldest man in the field. Following him are Rostislav Pevtsov (1987), Rodrigo Gonzalez (1989) and Felix Duchampt (1989). That fantastic four will look to strike back for athletes in their mid-30s.
Compared with other endurance sports, such as the marathon, short distance triathlon has not had too many athletes over the age of 30 enjoy prolonged periods of success. There could be several factors behind this, such as the rising speeds of the sport, the level of training required and perhaps psychological burnout.
Physiologically, though, such athletes should be able to compete well into their late 30s.
In Yeongdo, then, look for Perez, Gonzalez, Duchampt or Pevtsov to turn back the clock. All have enjoyed plenty of success at the world level over the years and could certainly claim another medal.
(PS: We’re sorry for calling you old. TikTok made us do it.)
A new French face
Arthur Berland was the French Junior champion in 2018. He also won a silver medal at the European Junior Cup in Quarteira in the same year and then in 2019 finished 4th at the European U23 Championships.
Since then, he has been a frequent flyer on the World Cup circuit and recorded top-10 finishes in Arzachena and Haeundae in 2021. Furthermore, last year, he had a best World Cup performance in Valencia where he finished 11th.
However, due to the French selection system, Berland faces a challenge in making it into the WTCS. Looking at the start list, it is unlikely that Yeongdo will satisfy the performance index set by the French Federation. As such, Berland’s result almost does not matter from a selection standpoint. However, it is nonetheless a good opportunity to gain experience and momentum
He is still very young in athletic terms so success in South Korea could be a very handy boost as he continues his trek towards the WTCS.
World Cup debut for Bröcker
In addition to Tara Sosinski, Julia Bröcker will be making her World Cup debut. The German aged out of the Junior ranks at the turn of the year after winning the bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in 2022. As such, she entered the season with high hopes.
This year has gone well so far. Bröcker finished 12th at the European Cup in Caorle and 10th at the European Cup in Olsztyn. Her form is therefore looking good but it will still be a step up in South Korea.
If she can quickly find her feet at the world level, though, she could take a big step towards joining the ever-growing ranks of talent vying for spots on the German WTCS squad.
Check out the start lists here.
