Yee is on the start list for France. Was he on there originally or has he been subbed in? I didn’t see his name on the last when it was published.
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Yee (and Wilde) have been on the WTCS Frejus start list from its publication in late July.
See @Jackets post from 17 days ago and then mine that day for flavour/comment.
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All French athletes no longer on the start lists for Weihai and no Beaugrand for Karlovy
Did they run out of funding, lol. I think that happened to usat last year, where only certain races usat athletes could race in (I think they only allowed wtcs race starts after Sept of last year).
Chelsea Burns had Gwen Jorgensen on:
At the risk of sounding like a broken record: really good interview. Especially enjoyed the b_itch anecdote, but also the story of how intently Gwen explored the possibility of racing the MTR in Paris without doing the individual. It’s all told without Gwen taking her own story super seriously contrary to what some might imagine.
**Only paid travel for WTCS starts
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France tend to travel as a squad for championship races, team houses, team support etc. I believe each athlete has a travel budget but championships are organised by the Fed. I might be wrong but that is what I was told.
Does Gwen regret leaving Triathlon to go marathon? I’d have loved to have seen her compete in the uber Swim/bike Duffy era post Rio.
Having just listened to it, no she doesn’t regret leaving. Winning gold afforded her that opportunity and it was one that she wanted/needed mentally. Post winning gold, she likely needed a “goal”, tri wasn’t going to give her that anymore after Rio…again she’s not a “lifer” triathlete that is all in on all things tri. She was a swimmer/runner turned triathlete, so once she won…"what’s next’ was kinda her mindset.
I don’t really understand why she’s still competing then, there must be something still there, if she was close to winning races then yes, to be brutal, she’s starting to remind of great boxers who think they can turn back the clock.
I can remember the talk of her never loving triathlon, so just wonder why she’s still doing it.
Oh she came back cus running was breaking her and she needed something to do so one week her and Pat simaltiously said “why not triathlon again” either just before or right after her 2nd child.
It’s kinda weird, she may actually be more of a real chance to make LA roster than Paris roster simply because US women may not have it anymore? I mean I guess she was as close as the others who got discretion picked, but I think GJ was only going to make it if she AQ’d, (which she was never close). Obviously for an athlete at her age, it’s pretty much a year to year propisition, so 3 years is a “long time” for her, yet a blink of the eye for some of the younger rising stars.
I am going to predict that the recent surgery has bought her one more season and then she will have the 3rd kid.
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It’s interesting listening to her mindset. She admits she told Pat she’s “quitting” multiple times (even prior to gold medal winning Rio) and said if she doesn’t podium this would be her last year, but that she’s decided she wants to do it again next year. I think it just reveals just how hard I think international triathlon truly is and just the stupid randomness that can affect athletes- a freaking flat tire was potentially going to be the whole reason she would have to stick it out post Rio, like thoughts like that were running through her head (she got a flat in London…I don’t think she was going to ever really factor into that but she did AQ so she had that going for her).
In addition to what Brooks said, Gwen has been working with a psychologist for some years now, so that may have played a role in her figuring out her “why” (in fact she says it did) which she didn’t really know in 2016.
But… to do the interview justice, you just have to listen to it. Surely it’s on Spotify as well.
Not replying to anyone in particular but great to watch a challenging and wet WTCS course in Karlovy Vary today. Tough billing going up against the IMWC in Nice at 1am California time but it was an exciting race to watch.
Spivey worked with Kingma to create a solid breakaway on the bike in the women’s race and was only caught by Potter to take second place.
The men’s race followed a similar pattern with just two then three athletes off the front. Interesting to see Hauser struggle at this venue after such strong performances all year.
Just replying to last post.
Excellent racing this weekend. The cold conditions seem to have affected both races. Oli Conway had a brilliant debut for GB-Tri. Nice to see Beth back on top of the podium. She is now on the start list for Weihai as well. Lehair is total badass for getting back on the bike after that fall.
Tertsch really doesn’t do any work on the bike at all but her run doesn’t seem to be at the same level as previous years.
She is a very smart tactical racer. Makes a decision quickly if she thinks a break is going to make it or not, and then shuts it down getting ready for the run. And yes, she doesnt seem to be running like she did last year, perhaps an off season injury or something?
But what about the real star of the day, Spivey. She was on fire, closed a huge gap to someone that has just signed with a pro cycling team, and even taking corners super safe and getting dropped each time, rode back onto the wheel. Then pops a run that only the former 5k WR holder could catch to hold onto 2nd. I have to confess that I thought her best ITU days were behind her, but with this new found run speed, she is right back in the mix, break or not…
I think another Olympics is in her future, who is even close now? I mean she lapped Gina, someone that was earlier considered someone in the pipeline to take over the reigns.
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TBH USA should have 6 women and 6 men in every race when you consider how much funding they receive and how much preparation they should have been doing once a home Olympics was confirmed.
Spivey seems to be thriving as she is and enjoying the freedom. Will she want to go back under the control of a federation that doesn’t always get it right? Would she risk everything not to be picked again?
No one knows what is being said in the background but from what I understand the funding and travel budget isn’t as generous as we think it is.
I dont think anything, because I really have no idea about their funding. Have to imagine Spivey gets whatever the max is now. But certainly she has always branched out of ITU, doing Super League and now T100 races. And those lastest T100 ones looking back, gave us a great indication that she has taken her run to the next level, and now ITU races reflect that too…
Yes the games are literally in her hometown, she lifeguarded the beach where they will have the swim. So no doubt pretty motivating for her to continue to jump through whatever hoops USAT puts up, but on her own terms as long as she is clearly the top dog on the team…
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Below is the 2025 funding criteria document. Spivey’s 2nd place moves her up into the Tier 1 funding level since her 2024 results (including top 10 at the Olympics and a MTR silver medal) only put her on Tier 2 funding for 2025 until now.
Note, that move increases the stipend from $4,125 per quarter to $5,500 per quarter plus an additional $600 for coaching. Race travel and accommodations are fully covered for WTCS level races but no one is getting rich off the federation 
Obviously, these levels do not allow an athlete to support themselves alone so prize money and sponsorship as well as race directors (T100/SuperTri) make up the difference. I wrote about funding a short course triathlon career earlier this year so I’ll add that link below too.
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