The triathlon world waits and wonders as Yokohama starts the series with points in Paris • World Triathlon
Yokohama is set to kick off the 2024 Triathlon World Championship Series on Saturday morning, and anticipation is building at the prospect of a powerful first Olympic-distance test for athletes in this big year for the sport.
We may be missing last year’s world champion Beth Potter and runner-up Cassandre Beaugrand, both with their Paris 2024 tickets effectively stamped, but with the return of reigning Olympic champion Flora Duffy taking on Rio 2016 champion Gwen Jorgensen for the first time in eight years, this will be a race to savor.
For the North American athletes, a podium here will mean automatic qualification for Paris, something that, remarkably, all five at the start line achieved. It’s the same objective for the Italians, while for the Australians, a top eight finish will be enough. Buckle up for two hours of entertainment as this fast and furious 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run begins at 10:15am local time on May 11, all on TriathlonLive.tv.
Flying French finding their feet
Wearing number one for the first time in a WTCS will be Emma Lombardi. At just 22 years old, the 2023 Series overall bronze medalist placed fourth in the Test Event, having achieved a career-best silver at WTCS Sunderland. It was at the WTCS debut here in 2022 that the French star announced her arrival with an impressive run to finish on the podium behind Flora Duffy. First Series gold is certainly around the corner, and this would be a great time to achieve it.
Looking to join Lombardi and Beaugrand for precious home games is Leonie Periault. Chasing her best form after an injury-affected campaign last year, it was also here two years ago that she won the best silver medal of her career, but consolidating her position in the top 30 of the Olympic Ranking and the French third place on the line start will be the goal here.
Big test awaits Duffy’s return
2021 World and Olympic champion Flora Duffy was unfortunately absent from the blue carpet for the entirety of 2023 as a knee injury prevented her from running. Yokohama marks her first action since she retained her world title at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Championship finals, and it will be fascinating to see how she holds up to the strains of an Olympic distance return and how far she can go in the 10km race.
The last time Duffy and Gwen Jorgensen shared a starting line was at the 2016 Cozumel Grand Final, finishing first and second respectively. Here, Jorgensen knows that a podium – and above any other US athlete – is necessary to complete his remarkable return to the top and qualify for Paris 2024. If 2023 was marked by some vintage performances on the World Cup circuit, then this year requires the same, but at the higher level.
The same goal lies before fellow Americans Taylor Spivey, Summer Rappaport and Kirsten Kasper, who all made the podium here, although none won gold. Taylor Knibb won gold in Yokohama in 2021, and with her Olympic spot secured, she can take a more relaxed approach. For Rappaport, two silvers in 2019 and 2021 underline her love of racing in Japan, and it all adds up to what could be a fascinating finish in the final stages this time around.
Waugh looking for medal boost
It may have been teammate Sophie Coldwell who grabbed the headlines here 12 months ago, but a career-best fifth for Kate Waugh showed her intentions among a strong British women’s team. Fast forward to the season finale in Pontevedra, an excellent silver helped her to 16th place in the Olympic rankings and firmly in contention for a place on the team. The mission for Yokohama 2024 is clear, a medal would be an incredible statement.
The German trio of Olympic qualifiers Laura Lindemann, Lisa Tertsch and Nina Eim begin a journey that has historically not been very successful for them. Lindemann’s three 10th-place finishes in 2016, 2018 and 2019 are the group’s best to date. Now would be a great time to break this voodoo.
Mexico’s surprise in 2023 was Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, taking second place in that rainy race, but the queen of consistency in Yokohama was the Dutch Maya Kingma, finishing 6th, 5th, 3rd and 7th in her four races here.
For Australians Natalie Van Coevorden, Sophie Linn, Jaz Hedgeland and Charlotte McShane, a top 8 finish would be enough to secure their place on the Paris start line, otherwise they will drop down the rankings at the end of the month.
There is so much at stake that a huge Olympic distance test is coming.
COMPLETE START LIST
WTCS Yokohama
May 11, 10:15 am local time
TriathlonLive.tv
