The World U23 Championships are less than two months away and several countries have made early moves in selecting their teams.
Bradley Course and Charlotte Derbyshire locked up automatic selection for Australia based on their medal-winning performances at the Oceania Championships in Port Douglas.
Under the German selection policy, the top eligible male and female finishers from the European Games (that also finished inside the top-30) have earned selection. On that front, Selina Klamt finished 4th and Simon Henseleit finished 7th.
The next German place was allocated to the top U23 performer at the German Championships in Düsseldorf. Once again, the highest finishers were Klamt and Henseleit as they placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively. With Henseleit and Klamt already on the team, the slots could roll down to the next best U23 finishers from Düsseldorf. On the men’s side, that was Henry Graf, who finished 8th. For the women, Tanja Neubert finished 5th and so could take the second slot.
Under the French selection policy, earning an auotmatic selection is no mean feat.
To start with, any reigning World U23 champion can be picked. As both races were won by British athletes in 2022, this does not apply to any of the French team.
Alternatively the French index system comes into play. Under the French model, races are assigned a performance rating based on the rankings of the athletes starting. You can read a more detailed breakdown of the performance indices here.
To earn automatic selection for France, an athlete must have achieved a certain finish depending on the rating of the race between 18th March and 6th August 2023. The race can have been at any international level, whether WTCS, World Cup European Championships, European Games or even a European Cup. The performance index is all that matters.
When the performance index is under 12, a top-16 finish will be enough to earn automatic selection. When the index is between 12 and 19, the requirement steps up to a top-12. With an index between 20 and 39, a top-6 will be required and when the index is between 40 and 49 a top-3 will be necessary.
When the rating of a race is between 50 and 99, an athlete will have to win to secure automatic selection for the World U23 Championships.
On the European Cup front, only the races in Quarteira and Caorle have had performance indices of under 100 in both the men’s and women’s races. For the most part, then, a win in a European Cup will not have been enough to earn automatic selection.
Yanis Seguin finished 4th at the European Games which had a performance index of 33.5. He should therefore have earned automatic selection. However, Paul Georgenthum finished 17th at the same race so has not yet earned automatic selection.
On the women’s side, Emma Lombardi will be eligible based on her silver medal at WTCS Cagliari (rating of 6.6) but she will likely race the WTCS Final instead.
Anouk Sterkers is the next closest woman after winning a silver medal at the European Cup in Rzeszów, although that had an index of 154.9.
Sterkers, Candice Denizot, Baptiste Passemard and Briac Tence will have a final opportunity to secure automatic qualification at the European Super Sprint Championships in Balikesir.
Thereafter, discretionary selections will come into play.
Meanwhile, this weekend Britain will hold a selection race in Sunderland in parallel with the WTCS event.
A British athlete will be automatically selected if they have achieved one of the following points (in order of priority) by 6th August 2023:
- First U23 finisher at the British Super Series race in Sunderland
- Finished in the top-12 at a 2023 WTCS race
- Finished in the top-3 in a 2023 World Cup or at the European Championships (Olympic distance) or at the European Games
- Second U23 finisher at the 2023 British Super Series race in Sunderland
- Reigning World U23 medallists.
Connor Bentley and Hamish Reilly are reigning medallists from the World U23 Championships. However, seeing as Britain will likely have three slots at the World U23 Championships this year and the top-2 U23 finishers at the British Super Series race in Sunderland have priority over reigning medallists, it is unlikely that both Bentley and Reilly will race on the basis of their medals in 2022.
Britain have had no male or female U23 athletes hit a top-12 finish in a WTCS race this year or a top-3 at a World Cup, European Championships or European Games.
Sunderland will therefore be all-important for automatic selection.
Tilly Anema won the selection race for the European Super Sprint Championships so could be a good bet on the women’s side. Sophia Green, Daisy Davies and Jessica Fullagar all have experience of racing at the World U23 Championships and could likewise make the cut.
Bentley dropped out of WTCS Sunderland and is not on the start list for the British Super Series in Sunderland. As the defending champion, though, his status should be assured if he chooses to race.
Of the men racing at the British Super Series event, Dominic Coy could be one to watch out for after a recent 4th place at the Bundesliga race in Tübingen.
Across the board, then, several countries still have slots in play for this year’s World U23 Championships. Some athletes, like Course, Derbyshire, Klamt, Henseleit and Seguin, can look ahead to the race.
For plenty of other athletes, time is running out to secure automatic nominations and avoid relying on a discretionary pick.
