In this instalment of the women’s Top 30 Triathletes for 2024, we will be casting an eye of the names occupying places 24 through 19.
While we have attempted to strike a balance between the different levels of the sport, WTCS performances have generally taken the priority. Results at World Cups and Continental Championships also feature while we have tried to weigh the consistency of some athletes against the medal-winning exploits of others and the potential of rising younger athletes against the experience of those nearer to the end of their careers.
This is not intended as a prediction for the year and it is more of a survey of how we feel the field stands going into the new season. There will always be an element of subjectivity, though, so feel free to disagree with any names or suggest your own in the comments below.
24) Gwen Jorgensen USA (2023: unranked)
The return of the former Olympic champion was one of the more unexpected headlines to emerge in the off-season between the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. However, Jorgensen’s comeback to elite triathlon has been a resounding success.
She stormed to four World Cup wins in 2023. Her first, in Valencia, was a vintage performance in which the field could not live with her on the run. She backed that up with a win in Karlovy Vary where she exhibited a seldom seen sprint finish. While she was pushed all the way, another win followed in Tongyeong and then a (somewhat controversial) victory in Vina del Mar capped her year.
Furthermore, Jorgensen won World Cup silver medals in Huatulco and Miyazaki. Crucially, her World Cup performances have secured her status in the world rankings among the American women which should put her on WTCS start lists more frequently.
With best WTCS finishes of 24th in Sunderland and 30th in Hamburg, it has not always been plain-sailing for the double world champion. At the same time, with a full season and another winter under her belt, she will likely be an even more formidable prospect this year.
If her running fires in the Series as it has in the World Cups, she could very quickly threaten the top-10, top-5, and who knows, maybe even the podium once more.
23) Katie Zaferes USA (2023: 30th)
If I had a nickel for every American former world champion that returned from a maternity break to win* a World Cup last season, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
*The elephant in the room is that Zaferes crossed the line first at the World Cup in Vina del Mar but was disqualified for a controversial course infringement that saw multiple leading finishers stripped of their results. The record book will not show that Zaferes won in Vina del Mar however her performance was undeniably marvellous.
To go with her Vina del Mar outing, Zaferes also claimed a silver medal at the Brasilia World Cup.
In contrast to Jorgensen, rather than on the World Cup circuit it was in the WTCS that Zaferes made the most noise. A 5th place finish in Montreal was the standout performance of her season. Like Alice Betto, another athlete returning from maternity, she was regularly around the top-10, finishing 12th in Cagliari and Paris.
Finishes of 18th in Hamburg and 19th in Pontevedra likewise rounded out what was a very assured return to the top level. While Zaferes faces a trickier road to get onto WTCS start lists than Jorgensen going forwards, she finds herself in the same boat of having added a season and a new winter of training under her belt. Looking ahead to 2024, then, it would be no surprise to her Montreal level become her standard throughout the year.
22) Rachel Klamer NED (2023: unranked)
In 2022, Klamer had best WTCS finishes of 14th in Leeds and 15th in Hamburg and it was not entirely sure if she would regain her previously exceptional levels. However, she was considerably better in 2023.
A 5th place in Pontevedra was a high point of her season. With her performance, she qualified for the Dutch team at the Olympic Games and reasserted her credentials to as a possible contender for a medal. In addition, she finished 6th in Sunderland while a 12th place in Hamburg was another result that helped her towards finishing 15th overall in the Series.
Klamer also made a trip to a world level podium. She won a silver medal in Karlovy Vary and pushed Jorgensen all the way to the line. Finishes of 5th in Tangier and 9th in Rome also hinted at some increased consistency in the autumn.
Persistent issues with her hamstring have proven an issue in recent times. In light of her recent form, though, perhaps the former WTCS race winner has a trick left up her sleeve in 2024.
21) Cathia Schär SUI (2023: unranked)
Schär’s enjoyed a very similar rise from 2022 to 2023 as Klamer. Whereas the Swiss athlete finished 14th in Montreal and 16th in Bermuda in 2022, she beat her previous best Series result three times in 2023.
In Montreal, she finished 12th. She then beat that with an 8th place in Hamburg. A 9th place in Sunderland followed and while it did not represent a third consecutive personal best, it still out-stripped anything she had managed prior to last year.
Schär then finished 4th at the World U23 Championships. A key reason behind her finishing behind Klamer in overall WTCS standings was that she skipped the Final in favour of the U23 event. Shortly after, Schär claimed the bronze medal at the Rome World Cup, her first at the world level.
Earlier in the year, she also claimed the bronze medal at the European Championships over the Olympic distance (albeit as a duathlon).
While Klamer had the better top World Cup and WTCS finishes in 2023, Schär edges her out here on the basis of her trajectory. Still an U23 athlete, Schär has shown rapid progression in the past couple of years and further improvements can be expected this year.
20) Marlene Gomez-Göggel GER (2023: unranked)
After not recording any top-10 WTCS finishes in 2022, Gomez-Göggel turned some heads last year with two 5th place results, in Hamburg and Sunderland.
In addition, she won three World Cup medals. Bronze medals in Valencia and Karlovy Vary preceded a silver in Rome. Gomez-Göggel thus demonstrated that she was a reliable medal threat at the World Cup level and a top-5 contender in the WTCS.
She did not have the best results over the Olympic distance in the Series last year. However, that can be weighed against finishes of 12th in Bermuda, 13th in Yokohama and 14th in Cagliari from 2022, all of which came over the Olympic distance.
If she can string together her best WTCS form over the course of a whole season, there is no reason why Gomez-Göggel cannot land in the top-20 or maybe even the top-10 overall.
As another athlete to be caught out by German team depth, she won’t be at the Olympic Games this summer. In place of that, though, she could put all of her eggs in the Series basket and end the year with a best ever overall finish and potentially a maiden WTCS medal.
19) Nina Eim GER (2023: 28th)
It speaks to the growing depth of the women’s field that Eim has not already pushed even higher in this ranking.
She put together fantastic WTCS campaign in 2023, logging finishes of 6th in Paris, 7th in Abu Dhabi, 9th in Cagliari, 11th in Yokohama and finally 12th in Pontevedra. Altogether, that was enough to place her 9th overall in the Series.
Throughout the season, Eim unleashed multiple lightning run splits, including a field-leading effort in Yokohama. Moreover, thanks to her Paris result, Eim is also an Olympic qualifier.
On the World Cup level, she won in Rome and finished 2nd in Valencia. Her victory in the Italian capital was her first at the world level and spoke to an athlete primed to make a real dent on the podium in the near future.
While her swim can sometimes hold her back a little, Eim is young and improving. With the running speed she has shown thus far, she is not be far from becoming a medal challenger in WTCS. Considering that she entered this year 8th in the world rankings and 9th in the 2023 WTCS, she really could be listed higher here. That, however, is more of a reflection on the talent ahead rather than her own performance levels.
Should Eim maintain her trajectory, this time next year she will very likely be a top-10 athlete.
