Following the conclusion of World Cup racing for 2022 at Viña del Mar, we thought it would be a good idea to shine a light on a little-known aspect about the race. Viña del Mar was the third of three World Cup races in 2022 designated for the ASICS World Triathlon Team.
The Team was created with a view to providing a developmental pathway for athletes in parts of the world without the infrastructure or an established route into elite triathlon. Indeed, it is one of World Triathlon’s leading initiatives in growing the sport.
Joining the Team
Courtesy of World Triathlon, the “target group will be athletes from emerging/developing National Federations who have already shown a high level of competence in World Triathlon Cup and/or Continental Cup events and are looking to qualify for Paris 2024 and beyond but need support to do so.”
Certain criteria apply to any athlete looking to race in a World Cup (WC) as part of the Team:
- Athletes must have been born in 1994 or later.
- Candidates must be in the top 250 of the World Triathlon Ranking.
- Athletes must have at least two results (finishing in the top 66%) from Continental Cup events in the past 18 months.
- Athletes must be registered and in good standing with their National Federations and have shown the ability to race at a high level.
- The athletes nominated should be committed to competing in the long term and have the Olympic Games as an ultimate objective.
- While there will be a maximum of ten (10) slots available at each event.
- Athletes from the continent where the WC is taking place are favoured.
- Athletes should be connected with the Continental Development Projects too.
- Injured or ill athletes are not accepted for the project. Illness or injury of a selected athlete must be reported immediately to World Triathlon Development.
None of these criteria appear particularly unreasonable. Some of the standards such as having a World Ranking in the top 250 are similar to the World Cup selection policies of several National Federations.
Moreover, it is important to note that members of the ASICS World Triathlon Team do not receive preferential treatment when it comes to entering races.
The Team is only eligible for assistance at three designated World Cups. For reference, there were ten World Cups in 2022 which means at less than a third of the races, a little under 10% of the field was used to accommodate members of the Team. Given the relative disparities in national infrastructures, coaching and funding, this seems like a reasonable way to bring new countries into the sport.
The 2022 Team
The current Team consists of members from 8 countries:
- Antoanela Manac ROU
- Badr Siwane MAR
- Basmla Elsalaamoney EGY
- Diego Moya CHI
- Edda Hannesdottir ISL
- Erica Hawley BER
- Henry Räppo EST
- Jawad Abdelmoula MAR
- Macarena Salazar CHI
- Romana Gajdošová SVK
- Tyler Smith BER
One obvious success story of the ASICS World Triathlon Team thus far has been Jawad Abdelmoula. Abdelmoula came to triathlon as a relative latecomer. His first elite international race was 29th May 2021 however, he went on to win the Tongyeong World Cup in October 2021. That enabled him to start on the WTCS circuit by right (the ASICS World Triathlon Team does not assist its members with starting at the WTCS level). Since then, he has progressed to winning a WTCS medal with his 3rd place in Hamburg this year.
Naturally, not all athletes on the Team will have quite the same electric trajectory, however progress can be seen across the board.
At WTCS Bermuda, Team members like Badr Siwane, Tyler Smith, Erica Hawley and Edda Hannesdottir took to the start line, indicating that the Team is helping its athletes to progress.
Given the promising results of the Team thus far, it will be interesting to see whether World Triathlon takes any steps going forward to expand it.
One additional option could be to hold a future World Cup in Africa. Currently South Africa is the only African country to have hosted a World Cup. Taking a race to a different African location and incorporating it into the schedule of the ASICS World Triathlon team could be a positive step in the attempts to grow the sport.
Given that Morocco has two Team members in its ranks and has hosted over 25 African Cup races in varying locations, that may be the best country to start with both from a commercial and infrastructure perspective.
The sport can only grow stronger by bringing more countries and athletes into the fold and assisting athletes that show promise is a great way to start.
