The test event might literally be the 1 race where who finishes just outside a podium might be more interesting than who finishes on a podium

A lot riding for the athletes who need the event to count so hopefully swim is good to go.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Is it worth starting a list of qualification policies for each federation? GTB can’t qualify automatically so she will probably get a discretionary spot as early as possible.

GBR - top 3 in Paris for Yee/GTB. Brownlee top 3 in Paris (but needs a podium somewhere else as well.) All others top 3 in Paris AND top 3 at grand final.

Go for it! That would be helpful

USA:

2 AQ spots:
1) 1 must be podium
2) next person must be top 8

1 AQ spot:
1) 1st person anywhere in top 8

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Australia Automatic Nomination
Top 8 Paris Test Event
Top 8 World Triathlon Championship Final

IMO the only Australian with a chance of a top 3 finish in the Paris test event is Hauser.

What happens if swim is cancelled?

Most federations cancel the qualification status of the event.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I will watch this one live. On my way to Paris soon. Really hoping for a swim to take place. Agreed re. Hauser being the likely only Australian. I mean I wouldn’t be completely shocked if Sophie Lin or Jake also get it. Jake still has bungles of talent, needs to get right.

Duathlon

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Swim ain’t happening and if it does >50% end up sick.

Yee
Wilde
Bergere

Potter
Spivey
Beaugrand

So umm, is this going to be a real issue next year as well, or they going to work to "fix it" and just go with whatever happens during the actual Olympics??

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

There’s some work that’s underway but not yet finished that will help next year. As for later this week, it now hasn’t rained much for the past week and forecast isn’t bad, so fingers crossed it all goes well.

Hopefully they can put it together in time for the big show. It would be bad for the sport if the swim gets cancelled during the Olympics.

Sophie Linn has withdrawn, can't have got right since her injury in T2 at Montreal. Birtwhistle was one of those struck down hard with the bug from Sunderland and now his coach has just been let go by TA, perfect timing for Paris. He might not be in the best head place at the moment. A few Aus would be effected.

It’s like Rio all over with water quality issues.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Worse than Rio as the Seine isn't tidal.

Not certain regarding the final outcome of the women’s but if Taylor Knibb is on form she’ll make the front bike group work to stay or try to stay with her. It will be interesting to see how Beaugrande deals with a hard 40k bike.

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Fecken stooopid idea to hold the swim in the Seine. So much risk of bad water quality - why oh why do these big events get put on in locations renowned for poor water quality then hope it isn't.

- sunderland (I've surglf kayaked not far from there in the past - it's minging at times)

- Nottingham ( river Trent) - remember the nixed relay took place there a few days before the Individual ITU race in Leeds. Plenty sick people missed the Individual as a result.

- Glasgow. Was at risk of being a duo.

- Tokyo

Seems all because the 'spectacle' of a big city backdrop is more important to the IOC than athlete safety. When there are loads of options elsewhere in the same country that are waaay more suited.

(Another example- XC mountain biking- for London 2012 the IOC insisted it was close to London, hence a made-up naff course on a farmers sloped field in Essex with a few lumps of rock dropped in it, rather than going to somewhere 100 miles away that was actually suitable.


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Stupid isn't it.

Massive storm last night for about 2.5 hours so expect the water to be worse not better.

which i think is fine but what annoys me is that duathlons only get 75 percents of the points it makes no sense in my mind. if anything than maybe a 5 percent point deduction would be totally enough and i think it should be 100 percent of tri.

Oh no really? Forecasts have looked good, but that really doesn't mean much. I assume swim familiarisation is Wednesday, wonder when they will be testing it. The rules on the world tri documents say 1 week out and then first day of swim, for recording purposes only (or something meaning similar) last night is inside the week so no testing again before if that is correct. I am assuming they will do a bit extra for this, especially after Sunderland.

But you need to remember olympic selection has very little to do with points, and more on what a federation considers as giving them indications for the most likely to have a great performance at the olympics. this is why with the ladies race in Tokyo at the test event many countries cancelled or modified auto qualification criteria, since the distances were shorter, and not necessarily indicative of potential over the full distance at the OG. Same with a Du, since every step possible will be taken to avoid the OG race becoming a Du, a top 8 in a Du on the Oly course is not necessarily indicative of potential for a top performance if there is a swim leg, hence why many countries won't want to necessarily auto select based on that. For some countries this is a non issue, since they have a finite number of athletes who could be selected, but for the deeper countries, locking up auto selection is crucial. As a result of this you have different people racing for different reasons, Flora is racing to bust the rust, and to see the course since there's no chance that if she's healthy she doesn't get selected, but then for the US and GB and France, where there will be meritorious athletes that miss out, they need to race for results...

In terms of testing and odds of a swim happening. For an event like the OG or test event, they are likely doing extra testing to be sure about conditions and exploring approaches to ensure decent water. We'll get a better sense of whether a swim is likely based on the familiarizations on Wednesday. There should also be water quality results in the briefing tomorrow evening (which are usually posted to the world tri website shortly thereafter). A storm 4 days out is not necessarily as death sentence for an Urban swim, the way it would be 48hrs out, but we'll have to see how the water rebounds afterwards. With a sunday storm, I would probably test the water Monday afternoon so that results could be ready before the Tuesday briefings, and possibly test again Tuesday...


In terms of picks, it's tough to say. You've got a mix of people who have largely focused on the test event and haven't raced as much, as well as those who have raced a lot as well, so it's tricky to predict who's legs are going to show up in Paris... I suspect it will largely be the usual suspects sniffing around the podium, but there might be a few surprises in the top 10, that could snag spots for the games that will make the next 10 months very interesting...

there is a massively funded effort to get it clean. whether it works . .

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/costly-and-complex-cleanup-of-seine-river-underway-ahead-of-2024-paris-olympics

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cock-up before conspiracy

I am not joking about this but I know it will never happen: the back up plan should be to hold the swim at the Aquatic center. It is a 3-4 kilo ride to the planned bike course from there. You would have a 10 lane 50M pool meaning 6 people per lane. That isn't terrible at all.

Don't hold the event if you don't have a swim. It is that simple.