It has been four years since the last World Cup race took place in New Zealand. For years, New Plymouth was a fixture on the circuit and served typically as an early season hit-out for some of the best triathletes in the world. This weekend, the event makes its long-awaited return.
After that big thing happened in 2020, the world is a different place and so too is the landscape of elite triathlon. New Plymouth offers clues as to just how different the triathlon scene now looks.
Upon looking back to the results of the 2019 World Cup, it is remarkable how much has changed in the intervening years.
On the men’s side, the race was won by an up-and-coming Australian Junior, Luke Willian. The 2017 World U23 bronze medallist remains one of the most promising talents in the sport although the last few years have stalled his momentum a little, as they have to a number of athletes. Willian will be racing this weekend in New Plymouth and there would be a nice symmetry to him standing atop the podium and kick-starting his 2023.
After a recent bronze medal at the Taupo Oceania Cup, he could be coming into form.
The runner-up four years ago was Justus Nieschlag. A World Cup winner and Olympian, Nieschlag has since been dumped from the German squad in a Christmas break-up. Nowadays he is enjoying incipient success in middle distance triathlon.
Likewise, the New Plymouth bronze medallist from 2019 has since left the sport. Sam Ward was not picked for New Zealand’s Tokyo Olympic team and left the sport disillusioned at the lack of clarity from his federation. His last international race came at the Mooloolaba World Cup in February 2020.
The 5th place finisher has also since retired. Javier Gomez Noya left the sport after a final hurrah at the Tokyo Olympics. After racing New Plymouth four years ago, he won two more WTCS medals in 2019: a silver in Bermuda and a bronze in Leeds. After five world titles and over a decade at the top, though, the end was already nearing for Gomez by then.
On the other end of the scale, the 4th place finisher was a fresh faced Hayden Wilde. That result in New Plymouth kick-started a season in which he went on to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Test Event. Two years later he became an Olympic medallist and last year he won his first WTCS medals before narrowly missing the world title.
Four years ago he was simply another talented youngster on the rise. This time round he arrives as the favourite.
The subsequent paths of the top-5 men last time out give an indication of the evolution of the sport. A host of elite athletes, each world level medallists and Olympians, have slipped out of the sport as a new generation has risen to take their place. In any normal quad this cycle would be a lot more gradual however the gap between New Plymouth events helps to view it all the more starkly.
As an aside, in 2019 Morgan Pearson was starting his second season at the international level while Kenji Nener had only just switched to racing for Japan, In New Plymouth they finished in 36th and 41st, respectively.
Similarly, Miriam Casillas Garcia finished 12th that day. Two years later she would break into the WTCS top-12 for the first time with an 8th place in Yokohama. Now she is an established member of the WTCS top-8 and is closing in on a first WTCS medal.
The women’s top-5 from last time out has a similar texture to the men’s.
The gold and silver medallists, Angelica Olmo and Jolanda Annen, have not raced at the WTCS level since 2021.
Olmo has faced challenges with injury and her federation. Meanwhile, Annen raced a number of times in 2022 although not in the WTCS after facing some injury difficulty. Neither have stepped away from the sport like some of the top-5 men’s finishers have, but they have ridden the ups and downs of athletic life since.
The bronze medallist from New Plymouth was Jaz Hedgeland. Like Willian, she is one of Australia’s big hopes for the next few years and, as with the men, is an example of how new athletes emerge on the scene as the paths of others ebb and flow.
Another young talent, Tamara Gorman, finished 4th however she has since been blighted by a run of injuries. Most recently she suffered a broken sacrum.
In a sense, there is a small comparison to be seen between Gorman and Wilde after logging identical finishes last time in New Plymouth. Both were touted as future stars and Wilde has been able to develop. Sometimes, though, athletes are simply dealt with a bout of misfortune that delays the progression their talent promises.
Gorman still has all the talent and fortitude to return and reach great heights. Comparing her experience with Wilde’s, though, is instructive of how careers can wildly diverge over a four year period.
The 5th place finisher in the women’s race was none other than Emma Jeffcoat. Most notably, she led out the swim that day with Gorman and Nicole Van Der Kaay. Simply reading Jeffcoat leading out the swim practically inspires déjà vu. Maybe some things don’t change.
