Winning Olympic gold and the WTCS is a phenomenally difficult task. Only two athletes (Flora Duffy and Kristian Blummenfelt, both in 2021) have managed to complete the double, although each had idiosyncrasies in their achievements that should be noted.
Looking ahead to 2024, the question to be asked is will anyone from the current batch of contenders achieve the double?
Alex Yee has six WTCS wins in two years and an Olympic silver medal but as yet has not won a world title. Similarly, Hayden Wilde has four WTCS wins and won bronze in Tokyo. He has also twice made the overall WTCS podium (in 2022 and 2023).
Leo Bergere is the 2022 world champion and has the most WTCS medals since the 2021 Olympic Games while Dorian Coninx, the 2023 world champion, was the only man to medal at both WTCS Pontevedra and the Paris Test Event.
Right now, one of that quartet seems to be the likeliest on the men’s side to do the double.
After winning four WTCS races in 2023 and claiming the world title, Beth Potter is a favourite among the women to do the double. Flora Duffy, the reigning Olympic champion and world champion in 2021 and 2022, is another that could achieve it, injury-permitting.
Duffy technically did the double in 2021, although the Olympics were part of WTCS that year which did not make the two titles independent of one another.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, an Olympic silver medallist and WTCS runner-up in 2022, could figure, as could Cassandre Beaugrand, the WTCS runner-up in 2023.
In the poll below, you can decide if you think anyone will manage the double. If you are feeling particularly confident, you can say who you think will do so in the comments below.
Note, the 2024 Olympics may yet count towards the 2024 WTCS, creating a similar situation to 2021. In this scenario, the double would be a tad easier.
