Raises fist at the sky!!! Damn you WT! (as I figured you have to do double the work than before). But we’ll be over it, just seems wonky.
I agree. How is this an improvement on the previous iteration, other than fancy graphics/visual?
2 Likes
Nicola Spirig didn’t do too badly coming back from her first pregnancy to get 2nd in Rio and then 6th in Tokyo by which point she had 3 children.
2 Likes
The cost of putting on the WTCS in London was substantial. It was subsidised for the period before and after the London Olympics as part of the build-up plus legacy. Leeds City Council invested in bringing it to Leeds but the effect of the lockdowns and local government cuts meant that too became unsustainable.
1 Like
This has been update: World Triathlon Championship Series
February 15-16 | WTCS Abu Dhabi (UAE)
May 17 | WTCS Yokohama (JPN)
May 31 | TBC (ITA)
July 12-13 | WTCS Hamburg (GER)
September 14 | WTCS Karlovy Vary (CZE)
September 26 | WTCS Weihai (CHN)
October 15-19 | Championship Finals Wollongong (AUS)
(One more event potentially to be added)
NB - there is now a date for Weihai
2 Likes
Spirig always seemed like a part time triathlete to me, sure she was even studying at university as well as juggling being a mum and competing with the worlds best triathletes.
I think she was much better than Ryf when she decided to move up to LC, so you wonder what her career might have looked like without the kids and full time dedication.
I was at the last London race, I don’t think it went ouside Hyde Park, no cost of closing down roads etc.
Sunderland can afford to put a race on, but London can’t afford to close down Hyde park for the day over the weekend!
BBC/British Triathlon should be pushing for this, I think its pretty embarrassing considering the sucess we have, we can’t put a race on.
I forgot about Spirig. So possible I guess.
Looked up Sophie Coldwell’s age. 29 ?
So may be possible for her. I think most of the others have their first child later, so on return age then plays a factor.
Don’t know how old Spirig was.
Sophie feels she has been quite burnt by GB fed in the past 2 oly cycles, i would be surprised if she goes back to short course, other than if there is a minumum race after leave in the contracts for maternity.
Coldwell lost out to Holland in Tokyo and imho seriously unlucky not to get the nod for Paris.
I doubt she thinks LA is the future so I expect she’ll get back to some SC (and said just that on insta today) but for a limited time associated with funding/maternity.
[Am agreeing with @chrisb12 ]
Then crack on with middle distance: she is a well balanced SBR athlete who showed on a couple of weeks on a TT bike she could race well at T100 London. running 18km instead of the 10k/5k she’d been training for.
So if Yee is going to take a year off to mess around doing marathons, Wilde and the French off to MD, its going be interesting to see who steps up next year from the men.
Could be a good year for Hugo Milner
1 Like
Yes big opportunity here.
Which French athletes will be doing middle distance? Anyone know?
Le Corre and Bergere as well as Luis.
Time for Matt Hauser to step up and stamp his class in 2025 and step out of Yee and Wilde’s shadows. Valasca, Batista, Hidalgo, and Lehmannn will be up there. But it would be interesting to see how the race dynamics will change.
I’d say between Hauser and Valasca the two next best, id expect a couple more athletes to step up.
Are they switching back to the men running the anchor of the MTR? If so, on behalf of the rest of the world, please keep doing this marathon stuff, Mr. Yee, OBE.
Yes they’re switching back to the men being last - already happened at the World Final for the Para athletes.
Hidalgo has just been named in the BMC Pro Tri team for 2025:
“Miguel Hidalgo (BRA), finished 10th at the recent Paris Olympics, finished 9th in the WTCS and” is currently ranked World 9th. Aged 24, “Miguel has one ambition and that is to become a World Champion. Miguel will combine his” SC ambitions with some “70.3s, targeting the IM70.3WC in Marbella as one of his main objectives.”
What we all know:
The only economic model that works to put on WT race is a huge age group race, significant partnership with the local government, and a large corporate sponsorship.
Getting all three of these is becoming impossible.
triathlon is no longer new, exciting and growing.
And yet… the bloat at the top is refusing to accept this. If you look at an RFP from WT they are asking for larger guarantees from organizers than ever before.