The defending men’s world champion Dorian Coninx has been dealt a blow in his build-up to a home Olympic Games. The French athlete was one of several athletes to be caught up in a crash during the final bike lap at WTCS Yokohama. Coninx did not immediately get up after falling from his bike which offered an early indication that something was amiss. In the days since, the extent of the damage has been revealed.
Coninx has suffered a fractured wrist and elbow and surgery was quickly scheduled. As things stand, it is not clear whether he will be able to race at WTCS Cagliari in nine days; given the double fracture it appears unlikely at this stage. Two consequences of the injury stand out.
The first is that Coninx has not had a chance to prove his fitness in 2024. This is relevant as, per the French Olympic selection policy, the athletes that earned selection in 2023 still have to prove their fitness this season. Coninx qualified after finishing 3rd at the Paris Test Event (he also won WTCS Pontevedra which would have been enough). Technically, though, he needs to prove his fitness still and a DNF in Yokohama may not be enough.
With Coninx’s injury and has lack of results in 2024, an argument could be made for selecting a French team of Pierre Le Corre, Leo Bergere and Vincent Luis. Given Coninx’s results in 2023, this would be exceptionally harsh and a difficult call for anyone to make. The selection policy nonetheless provides for such an possibility.
The second key consequence pertains to the nature of Coninx’s injury. Fans of triathlon may recall a similar situation in 2016 when the then defending world champion Javier Gomez Noya was forced out of the Games after a bike crash during training in July. His injury? A fractured elbow.
With a little over two months to go until the Games, there is time for Coninx to recover and regain his form and fitness whereas Gomez’s injury was much closer to the Rio Olympics and killed any such hopes. At the same time, an impossible choice has been created. While Coninx has time to get back, the federation will need to finalise the French Olympic team before then.
Does the French federation plump for the now-injured defending world champion or is the better road to select the 2020 and 2022 world champions (Luis and Bergere)? One option would be to keep one of Luis or Bergere as a reserve to be called upon if Coninx does not recover. However, this approach would lead to a somewhat uncertain path to Paris.
For the current world champion to miss a home Games would be extraordinary. Even saying it out loud seems absurd. Yet in light of Coninx’s injuries this is the situation, the reality is rather complicated. In the space of one crash, everything about the French men’s Olympic situation has changed.
