Beaugrand, Yee favored at Olympic Triathlon

Women's Race Contenders

The women's event is scheduled for July 31st.

Cassandre Beaugrand FRA, 27
Home country darling Cassandre Beaugrand is riding on the wave of momentum propelling her to Olympic favorite status over the likes of 2023 World Champion Beth Potter and defending Olympic gold medalist Flora Duffy, just now recovering from injuries that left her 500 days away from racing.

Beaugrand started her Olympic campaign in 2023 with a 2nd place at the Paris test event and 3rd at the World Championship in Ponte Vedra. While Potter won those races, Beaugrand soldiered through cramping episodes in both.

This year the Frenchwoman turned the tables on her British rival. Beaugrand won her first WTCS Olympic distance victory at Cagliari, then decisively outran the British Rio Olympics 10,000-meter star in a duel to the finish at the sprint distance WTCS at Hamburg.

With Parisian race time temps forecasted to be not excessively hot, Beaugrand might be free of more cramping issues and should be in top form.

Beth Potter GBR, 33
Potter has earned the triathlon spotlight with an impeccable 2023 with wins at the World Championship at Ponte Vedra and at the Paris test event, plus WTCS wins at Abu Dhabi and Montreal. This year many bookies (mostly English) had Potter the Olympic favorite despite finishing third to Beaugrand and Lisa Tertsch of Germany at two WTCS races this year.

Potter’s ace in the hole may well be coach Jack Maitland, who guided the Brownlee brothers to their extensive Olympic successes. No coach has better experience keeping his athletes on form and free of severe Olympic pressure.

Flora Duffy BER, 37
Duffy is the Defending Olympic Champion, has four World Triathlon Championships and two Commonwealth Games golds, But leg injuries sidelined Duffy’s momentum for a total of 500 days. Her stellar record has given her the title of Greatest of All Time in short course triathlon So, on her return to competition this year, Duffy tip toed through a 7th place at Yokohama and 8th at Cagliari. Still, Duffy gave a heads up to anyone doubting the seriousness of her comeback with examination of her race at Cagliari. Duffy went on a walkabout for the first 5k of the run. But with another 5k to go, Duffy found her old form, zoomed past 9 competitors on the final 5k with her pace just a few seconds slower than the leading trio.

There remains a big question mark on Duffy’s chances for a medal. But if she can catch the lead pack after the swim, Duffy’s renowned bike prowess will give her a shot. After all, if she has anything left of her 2021 Tokyo 33:00 10k run speed – 52 seconds better than nearest pursuer Georgia Taylor-Brown – anything is possible for the GOAT short course legend.

At the start of 2023 doctors found a partial patella tear and cartilage damage which was treated with platelet-rich plasma injections and a hydro dissection process to clean out scar tissue. Perhaps summer workouts with fellow Boulder summer resident Taylor Knibb will bear fruit and Duffy will be the threat once again.

Taylor Knibb USA, 26
Knibb is a 2-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion, a 2-time Oceanside 70.3 winner, winner of San Francisco T100, second at 2024 WTCS Yokohama, and placed 5th at the 2023 Paris Test Event.

Her coach Dan Lorang says Knibb has “amazing bike power” in her arsenal. Can she use it on the flat and fast roads of Paris? “It’s not a big secret that Taylor will not wait for something to happen,” says Lorang.
Knibb will compete in both cycling and triathlon in the Paris Olympics. A national champion in US Time Trial, the Cycling TT takes place several days before her first individual triathlon The schedule is Women's Cycling TT on July 27th, Women's Individual Triathlon on July 31st, and Mixed Team Relay on August 5th.

Having trained in swimming in high school and running cross country and track in college, Knibb is a long shot with a real chance for gold who can keep up on the swim, push the pace on the bike and hang with the leaders on the run.

Taylor Spivey USA, 33
Her recent form on the eve of her first Olympics: 4th at Yokohama, which earned her Olympic qualification. 10th at the Paris Olympic Test Event. And 3rd at 2023 WTCS Abu Dhabi.

For Taylor Spivey, the 33-year-old is nearing the end of a long-held dream. On July 31 she hopes to convert the incredible consistency she has displayed over a decade of top rankings.

Spivey spent early years surf life-saving at home in Redondo Beach California and starting a triathlon career. Her breakthrough came early in 2019 when she placed 4th in the ITU World Triathlon Series behind Katie Zaferes, Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor Brown.

Spivey has earned 14 World Triathlon podiums during her career and has been a key member of the U.S. team that won silver at the 2020 Mixed Relay World Championships.

USA Triathlon calls her "one of the most consistent elite triathletes in the world," ranked in the top four in the world for the past five years consecutively.

But this Olympic joy didn’t come easy. "After being first in the World Triathlon Series ranking going into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and missing out on being selected for the USA Olympic team, made my selection for the Paris Olympic Team that much sweeter," said Spivey.
She likes to joke that she finished an Ironman triathlon before she was even born. But it was a fact, not a joke. Her mom Bonnie Spivey competed at Kona during her first few months of pregnancy with Taylor on board.

Kirsten Kasper USA, 33
After a long quest to make the Olympic team, Kristen Kasper fulfilled her dream with a 5th place at the 2024 WTCS Yokohama that qualified her for the Olympic squad.

The long road to Paris began with a WTS Podium in 2017, followed by stops in 2018 – a 4th at World Tri Abu Dhabi, a win at the New Plymouth World Cup, a 4th at World Tri Bermuda, and stints at the USA Mixed Relay Team in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Georgia Taylor-Brown, GBR, 30
In difficult conditions in the 2021 Olympics and despite suffering a flat tire on the last cycle lap, Taylor-Brown closed the resulting gap on the lead group ahead to win silver. A few days later Georgia won a gold medal in the Triathlon Mixed Relay at the Tokyo Olympics. She also won the 2021 Super League Triathlon Championship series, having finished 2nd in all four Championship series races.

Taylor-Brown ended her 2023 season with a calf tear. By Cagliari this year, she returned to action with a 6th place finish – not up to her Cagliari wins in 2022 and 2023 – but on target. Taylor-Brown’s career highlights also included 2020 World Triathlon Championships Gold, 2022 silver and 2018 and 2019 Bronze – and silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Leonie Periault FRA, 29
Periault has high highlights and unpredictable lows and there is no sure idea where she will finish at Paris. Her win in Yokohama this year was red hot. Periault won with a second-best 33:02 10k, which gave her a 36 seconds margin over runner-up Taylor Knibb.

Yet, two weeks later she missed the lead pack in Italy, eventually finishing a distant 26th nearly four minutes back in Cagliari. In the 2023 Paris Test Event, Periault finished 23rd. In the 2020 Olympic Games Periault finished 5th.

If she falters on the swim or in the bike in Paris, she has no prayer. But at the same time, if there’s a lead group starting the 10k run together, Periault will be one of the athletes to beat.

Lisa Tertsch GER, 25
Harvard graduate Lisa Tertsch (GER) flipped the usual script, splitting Cassandre Beaugrand and Beth Potter when taking silver in both WTCS Cagliari and Hamburg this season.

Tertsch did it on the runs. At Cagliari she posted the fastest 10k at 33:08 and at Hamburg she recorded the 4th-best 5k at 15:36. She currently stands at 4th on the World Triathlon rankings and 2nd at the WTCS rankings.

Laura Lindemann GER, 28
While Lisa Tertsch’s impressive silvers at Hamburg and Cagliari made a big impression over long-time German star Laura Lindemann, Lindemann’s steady excellence kept on coming. In 2021 she took 1st at the Hamburg World Championship Series. in 2022, she took 5th at WTCS Leeds, 4th at WTCS Bermuda and in 2023 she scored 3rd at the Paris Test Event.

Emma Lombardi FRA, 23
France’s Emma Lombardi made a big impact at the 2021 Edmonton World Triathlon Championship Finals, becoming U23 World Champion by winning her first ever Olympic-distance race. In 2022, Emma hit her first WTCS podium, winning the silver in Cagliari before scoring a top 10 finish at the Championship Final in Abu Dhabi. In 2023 she took 4th at the Paris Test Event and 6th at the Championship Finals. Lombardi remains powerfully consistent. In 2024, she took 5th at Hamburg, 4th at Caligari, and 3rd at Yokohama.

Lombardi is the current 2024 WTCS Number 1 and Number 2 in World Triathlon rankings.

Jeanne Lehair LUX, 28
There’s a fine line between reading recent results versus trying to see how athletes are peaking on the big days. In 2024 Lehair was 5th at Cagliari and 4th at Hamburg, seemingly building up to performances she displayed during 2023. That included a European Championship duathlon title and victory at Super League Triathlon London.
Lehair left the competition within the French team for the solo focus she receives in Luxemberg. Her momentum tapered off in 2023 when she took 13th at the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Final in Ponte Vedra and 11th at the Olympic Test Event in Paris.

Now, she’s aiming to put herself back contention on the run and roll the dice. Maybe not enough for an Olympic podium – but Lehair might be in contention into the late stages.

Kate Waugh GBR, 25
If the stress of the incredibly competitive Great Britain selection process hasn’t left too much damage, then Kate Waugh is one of those athletes who will be calling on all her abilities to get it right on the biggest days. In 2023, Waugh took a step in the serious direction with a 2nd in Pontevedra at the Championship Finals – the best result of her career. She will need that level of performance again given the form others have shown, plus the return of Duffy and GTB who had been absent that day.

Waugh’s encouraging 2023 performance at Ponte Vedra were followed by ordinary 2024 marks – 7th at WTCS Hamburg, 10th at WTCS Cagliari and 10th at WTCS Yokohama. After making the Great Britain Olympic team, there will be no more time to take it easy. The time for simply solid is over.

Men's Race Contenders

The men's race is scheduled for July 30th.

Alex Yee GBR, 26
The Tokyo 2020 silver medalist will be many people’s picks to upgrade that to gold this time around. He won the 2023 Test Event in impressive style, walking across the finish line with time to spare, a class above. Worth remembering that biggest rival Hayden Wilde was forced out of the race on the run.

A look at the story of Yee’s Test Event looks like an impressive preview of his Olympic chances. Yee began with a 18th-best swim that left him 21 seconds down, closed to within 5 seconds after the bike, and burst into a 2 seconds lead after the first lap of the run. Never looking back, Yee created a 27 seconds lead after the third lap of the run, then cruised to the finish, surrendering 14 seconds of his lead on his way to a race–best 29-minute 10k that was 14 seconds faster than his nearest rivals.

Yee’s includes form includes another memorable winning battle with Hayden Wilde at WTCS Cagliari. He also posted wins at 2023 WTCS Abu Dhabi, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and 2022 WTCS Yokohama.

Kristian Blummenfelt NOR, 30
The Tokyo Olympic champion produced the greatest 18 months in the history of professional triathlon in which he won the Olympic Games, World Triathlon Championship, IRONMAN World Championship and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Blummenfelt topped the Olympic triumph off by making several surges that wounded his rivals like a picador, then outrunning the sport’s greatest 10k runner, Alex Yee – by a 29:34 to 29:44 margin – on his way to an 11-seconds margin of victory.

In the past year, Blummenfelt has been in a well-deserved rest / slump. In 2023 Kristian placed 8th at Yokohama, 15th at Cagliari, 9th at Hamburg, 9th at the Paris Test Event, and 18th at the Ponte Vedra Finals. Things were not better in 2024 where Bib Blu was 10th at Yokohama and 31st at Cagliari.

It’s been almost three years since Kristian was won the Edmonton Championship Final – one month after the Olympics. After all, Yee and Wilde are stronger while Blummenfelt has been relatively resting and in a understandable slump after his Herculean explosion of winning in 2021. And so Blummenfelt says he is ready to launch an all-out comeback. He says he is going for the gold. Anything short of that, let it be damned.

Hayden Wilde NZL, 27
Wilde has entertained triathlon fans worldwide with his red-hot duels with Alex Yee, highlighted by his 2021 Tokyo Olympic tussle with Yee who bested the Kiwi by 8 seconds to grab the silver. In 2022 Wilde won Hamburg, took 2nd at Yokohama, won Leeds, and took 2nd at the Commonwealth Games. In 2023 he won Yokohama, took 2nd at Caligari, won Hamburg, and DNF at the Test Event. This year Wilde placed 2nd by 2 seconds behind Alex Yee at with Caligari.

Matt Hauser AUS, 26
Matt Hauser is on a mission to become4 the first Australian man to make an Olympic triathlon podium – if not the gold. Since a dispiriting 24th at the Tokyo Olympics, Hauser may be the most improved triathlete in the Paris field. In a 2022 interview, Hauser made a very revealing declaration: I really went away from that and knew that I had to work really hard to try and get up to Alex and Hayden. I didn’t want to miss the boat; they are starting to change the guard of triathlon and I really didn’t want to miss that.

Recent form provides evidence he has put his heart into that quest. This year he won WTCS Hamburg and finished 2nd behind Morgan Pearson at WTCS Yokohama. In 2023 covid took him out of the Test Event. But he was 2nd at Yokohama behind Hayden Wilde. In 2022 he was 3rd at the Commonwealth Games, and in 2022 he finished 5th at the World Triathlon Championship Final.

Hauser’s ace in the hole is his closing speed, which ought to instill fer in any rivals down the stretch.

Luke Willian AUS, 28
On the heels of fellow Aussie Matt Hauser, Luke Willian seems ready to follow in Hauser’s wake. Although lacking big wins, Willian is gradually building a promising resume in select WTCS races and second tier events. He took 3rd at 2024 WTCS Yokohama, won World Cups at Wollongong and Busselton, only slipping with a DNF at the Paris Test Event.

Morgan Pearson USA, 31
Pearson emerged as a serious international contender in 2021 when he placed 3rd at WTCS Yokohama and thus qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. That bright shining moment was dimmed when he placed 42ND at his Olympic debut, a performance he deemed “embarrassing.” He regained some respect soon thereafter when he earned a silver medal as part of the U.S. Mixed Relay Olympic squad. Pearson thus set a pattern of alternate highs and lows. And alerted fans and coaches to be ready for anything.

Proving that he belonged with Yee and Wilde in discussions about long shots with a real chance of Olympic gold are his 2022, 2023 and 2024 performances. In 2022 Pearson placed 2nd at the World Championship Finals at Abu Dhabi. In 2023 he placed a solid 6th at the Paris Olympic Test Event. In 2024, he posted an impressive win at WTCS Yokohama which qualified him for his second Olympic team. Underlining his potential, his by-far race-best 29:11 closing run at Yokohama was 18 seconds faster than runner-up Aussie Matthew Hauser, 24 seconds better than 3rd place Luke Willian of Australia, and 32 seconds better than 4th-place Leo Bergere of France.

Seth Rider USA, 27
USA Triathlon officials chose Rider primarily because of his value to the Mixed Relay team – noting his participation on the USA team Mixed Relay Results – 1st in 2021 Montreal, 3rd in 2022 Montreal, 9th in 2023 Paris, and 9th in the 2024 World Championship in Hamburg. Some of his best individual marks include 6th in the 2024 World Cup Vina del Mar, and 6th in the 2023 World Cup New Plymouth.

Vasco Vilaca POR, 24
Fast rising young Portuguese star, Vilaca now is 3rd in World Triathlon ranking, His most prestigious splash came with a second place at the Paris Test Event. Other notable finishes Include 2nd at 2024 WTCS Hamburg. In 2023 he was 2nd at Abu Dhabi and 3rd at Yokohama.

The French Triad
Dorian Coninx, Leo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre have home country advantage, and the last two World Triathlon champions. Current World Triathlon ranked #1 and #2. Very consistent – finished 3rd, 4th and 5th at the Paris Test Event.

Leo Bergere FRA, 28
Bergere leads the way (slightly) of the Frenchmen with consistent excellence topped by a win at the 2022 World Championship Finals at Abu Dhabi. Other notable finishes include a 3rd at the 2021 Championship Finals in Edmonton, 4th at the 2023 Ponte Vedra Championship Finals, and a 5th at the 2023 Paris Olympic Test Event. Only blemish was his 21st at the Tokyo Olympics. But Bergere also has a rich set of WTCS podiums including a 2nd at the 2023 WTCS Sunderland, 3rd at 2023 Caligari, 2nd at 2022 Leeds and 3rd at WTCS Yokohama.

Dorian Coninx FRA, 30
Coninx posted the most recent French World Championship win at the Ponte Vedra Grand Final in 2023. His most significant, recent mark was his 3rd place at the 2023 Paris Test Event. Coninx will also be eager to avenge his disappointing 17th at the Tokyo Olympics. Most recent 2023 WTCS results include 4th places at Yokohama and Caligari.

Pierre Le Corre FRA, 34
Le Corre’s most notable recent performance was a 3rd at the 2023 World Championship final at Ponte Vedra, followed by a raft of podiums at regular WTCS events – 3rd at 2024 Hamburg, 4th at the 2023 Paris Test Event, and 4th at the 2021 WTCS at Abu Dhabi.

Tim Hellwig GER, 25
Hellwig’s strongest race was 2nd place at the 2023 Triathlon Championship Finals in Ponte Vedra. Next in star power was two 2023 World Cup wins in Tongyeong and Chengdu. Also notable was his win at 2021 WTCS Hamburg and an U23 2nd place finish at the 2021 Championship finals in Edmonton.

Jelle Geens BEL, 31
If he can survive the swim and latch on to the fast- disappearing leading bike train, the Belgian has a chance to put his fast feet to work for a chance at the medals. He has but two WCTS wins on the sprint distance – Montreal 2019 and Abu Dhabi in 2021. He must also survive constant injuries and as well as a bout with covid that cost him an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. One sign that his luck is on the rise is his performance at the 2022 World Triathlon Championships Finals in Abu Dhabi, where his sizzling-fast, 3rd-best 29:28 run brought him home in 3rd place, just 20 seconds behind winner Leo Bergere and 9 seconds back of runner-up Morgan Pearson.

Marten Van Riel BEL, 32
Van Riel really loves the high pressure, glittering prestige events as witnessed by his 4th place at the 2021 Tokyo Gams. Van Riel’s most impressive recent result was a win at the 2024 T100 Triathlon World Tour in San Francisco. In 2021, Van Riel also scored a 2nd at the 2021 World Championship Finals in Edmonton, and a 3rd at the 2021 WTCS in Leeds.