No, I think her 70.3 debut was in South Africa a couple years back. Will be great to see her race it though! She's had way more time on the TT bike since then.

Another contender to the women's race - Jackie Hering, 70.3 specialist with a killer run.

Will this one be broadcast? That's a sufficiently interesting pro lineup that it's worth tuning in.

Yep, looks like Outisde will be broadcasting the race: https://www.outsidetv.com/events/ironman

https://stats.protriathletes.org/athlete/flora-duffy - see Jan 2020 SA result.
Assume Dame Flora Duffy's part aim is to get qualified for the 70.3 WC in late October.

Thanks for the link! I did a quick google search but most of the info I found was her Xterra wins and short course stuff. Would be cool to see her move to 70.3's after she is finished with her short course career.

I'm sure the current top shelf 70.3 and full distance athletes are really look forward to testing themselves against her ;)

With a good performance it's reasonable to assume she'll get a @Captain's Pick for the Collins Cup (August) and if she then races St George, that'll give her 3 scores for the PTO Rankings (and end-of-year payout).
But in general terms moving up in distance, I expect she'll want to defend her Olympic Gold Medal in Paris, and then will be approaching 37 in the World 70.3s in Taupo (same age as Ryf).

If she races Chattanooga it’s to qualify for Worlds and to show up there ready to win. I, however, do not see her wanting to prolong her career racing halfs. She seems content with her accomplishments and is dominant at short course. If she repeats this year and can defend in Paris she goes down as the GOAT.

Definitely a strong men’s field.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Weather looks fantastic on Sunday. I want to see if Jackson Laundry still can deliver. Men’s field is definitely strong and they will go head to head all out!!

I think Rinny is racing Chattanooga as well.

Ladies start list

Flora said that Tokyo was her last Olympics but now I believe she is aiming for Paris too. Not sure if she can fit in worlds if she has a full ITU calendar but would love to see her race with the best

Repeats what this year? Should we take it Brownlee goes down as the GOAT on these inferred criteria? I counsel a broader perspective.
If Dame Flora desires, the WCTS races can all be completed alongside the Collins Cup and 70.3 WC (late Oct). After 9 Jul, there's no racing till the ('her') Bermuda race, a fortnight after the 70.3 Worlds.
Hopefully with reigning champion Charles at St George, fit having skipped Kona, to keep her honest.
Then the WCTS finals in Abu Dhabi to finish off the season in November.
https://wtcs.triathlon.org/start_lists
This is helped by the Chengdu race being cancelled (was 22 Oct).
https://wtcs.triathlon.org/...p_2022_are_cancelled

The pro fields are stacked. I'm racing, and I'm pretty stoked to tow the start line with such an awesome pro field. If I wasn't racing I'd be watching as Flora will be one to watch for certain. I'll be rooting for TO as well after his widow maker.

Are you in the pro field?

Nope. Just racing, but it will be fun and perhaps I'll get to cross paths with some at the end of their run and the start of mine.

Flora Duffy out with Covid. Rough.

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Yup, I just saw that. That really sucks. I was looking forward to seeing her at the 70.3 distance. Hopefully she finds some time to jump in another one to get that World's slot.

Weather looks good if the rain will hold off

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Let food be thy medicine...

I wonder if she's managed to avoid all the way till now or whether this is a re-infection.
https://www.tri247.com/...-3-chattanooga-covid
Catching it before a semi-important race is bad luck. And the recovery process will threaten her early short course season too. Plenty of 70.3s to race, if she wants to, before the qualification deadline, and the WTCS schedule has sufficient gaps between races to allow that.

Close men's race so far. A ton of guys all within a minute. Cool to see TO in the hunt too!

Does anyone else think Rudy's fit looks kind of off? Looks like he has really short cranks and his seat is way too low. Maybe it was just the camera angle.

She also had it in January. https://bernews.com/...rward-yokohama-test/

Her post said she was triple vaccinated, too.

Man the run is looking to be a battle for the men.

Men out on the run course now.

9 guys all within 15 seconds of each other. West, McKenna, TO, Lopes in front group. Van Berg, Langerstrom, Laundry, Kanute, Hanson in the chase. A lot of faster runners here. Should be a fun run!

Women closing in on the finish of the bike. Really just 3 in the running right now. Hering, Findley and Lawrence. Lawrence is about 20 seconds back from the other two.