In some respects, it was a case of saving the best for last.
Vicky Holland was the fourth and most recent of the athletes to make a comeback to elite triathlon after a maternity break this year. Without wishing to compare her return too directly to those of Gwen Jorgensen, Katie Zaferes and Alice Betto, Holland made perhaps the biggest initial splash.
Whereas her counterparts took at least one race to regain their bearings at the world level, Holland plunged into the Tangier World Cup and came away with a remarkable 7th place.
Holland confessed to having not been sure about returning to the sport after pregnancy. She also noted that by the time she gave birth she was the least fit she had ever been. Few, then, quite saw Tangier coming.
Having made it into the main pack, Holland uncorked a stellar run split, dipping under 17 minutes for the 5km. 23 months after her previous race at the world level – a 10th place finish at WTCS Abu Dhabi in November 2021 – she was straight back into the top-10 as if nothing had happened.
As an Olympic medallist and former world champion, Holland had a dauntingly high level to recapture.
On a side note, she helped to complete a famous set. Alongside Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen, she formed part of a trio that won four of the six world titles on offer between 2014 and 2019. With Flora Duffy also still active, every women’s world champion of the past decade is in action nowadays.
In the wake of Tangier, Holland only had three races left in her six-week venture.
A 23rd place followed at the Rome World Cup in which the brutal reality of the level of the field around her bit a little harder. Nevertheless, Holland rallied with a 13th place at the Tongyeong World Cup.
Her season then came to its conclusion at the Vina del Mar World Cup. Holland finished on a high by claiming the bronze medal, her first medal since winning the Mooloolaba World Cup all the way before the pandemic in March 2020. Although, her 3rd place arrived in contentious circumstances.
The disqualification of four athletes ahead of her on controversial grounds elevated her a few places and onto the podium. However, there were still plenty of positives to take from her performance that out-shone the drama.
Holland was the second fastest swimmer officially and emerged from the water as one of the leaders. Heading up the swim represented a big step forwards and one that bodes well for next year. Moreover, she originally finished 7th, as in Tangier. What had been a great result a month prior would have still been a great result in Chile.
Since making her return, Holland has detailed some of her training struggles around her pregnancy
She shared on Instagram that by April she had gone a year without swimming and spent more than that off the bike. By the time she resumed running in May, over 7 months had passed since her last run.
The level she has hit in her comeback is therefore enormously impressive.
At the same time, even with World Cup top-10s to her name Olympic selection is off the radar realistically. Beth Potter has claimed first slot on the British team, leaving two to be assigned.
Beyond Holland, three 2023 WTCS medallists will be competing for those two slots. Georgia Taylor-Brown won WTCS Cagliari, a victory that went with three WTCS wins in 2022. Sophie Coldwell claimed her first win in Yokohama and then Kate Waugh claimed a maiden medal with a silver at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra.
It is not so much that Holland cannot get to the level required to qualify for a third Games. Rather, the level of the athletes standing in her way has been so high that it will be a monumental challenge to overhaul them.
Holland’s comeback therefore does not appear to be quite so inextricably entwined with the Olympic Games as is the case with the likes of Gwen Jorgensen and Katie Zaferes. As such, she has a little more freedom with which to play and explore in her return.
A WTCS return could be on the cards in 2024 and, after her success in Vina del Mar, perhaps more medals will be too. Having made such a splash so quickly in her comeback, it will be fascinating to see what Vicky Holland does next.
