Official (formerly) ITU leading to 2024 discussion thread…

Triathlon Forum
681

Learmonth would qualify discretionary as a domestique for GTB. I can’t see her auto qualifying this time round simply due to the fact that she missed the whole of last season and is still in rehab at Bisham Abbey.

GB policies is all around the test event and being an existing medalist. So basically GTB, Learmonth, Yee and Brownlee have an advantage before they even start the race. (Assuming Holland won’t be on the start line in August!).

Following that Coldwell has an advantage over Potter because the next level criteria considers MTR medals at World and European level. Which goes back to my previous statement regarding actual selection for MTR races. Potter consistently beat Coldwell last year but Coldwell always got the nod for the MTR. If you don’t get picked you can’t stack the cards in your favour.

Potter will have to auto qualify to go to Paris, which is harder as the policy works against her.

I honestly don’t think Learmouth will show the fitness to be selected for Indivdual or MTR. She’s 35 this year and serious injuries at that age tend to end you.

The GB selection policies are actually an absolute circus. Leeds last year was ridiculous. They knew fine well that AB was nowhere near fit, but had Tom Bishop racing here, there and everywhere at the last minute and Alex Yee is having to prove himself in this unofficial selection race. They just make it up as they go along.

The GF last year was the excuse they needed to keep Beth off Podium. I’d say the safest route is to podium at the Test Event or GF this year. I have a feeling the women’s team will be a similar situation to the Mens in 2021, with the final picks after the Leeds 2024 race.

Totally agree, it is a farce. It has been the same for years. The embarrassment of selections for 2012 and all of the appeals was just the tip of the iceberg. It is every Olympic cycle. Beth will not be going to the Olympics unless she auto qualifies, and she knows that. They are never going to willingly chose her for an MTR event to give her the opportunity to meet the 2nd criteria so she needs to podium and make them pick her. Their choice is GTB + Coldwell and one other. GTB is stand out but the policy is clearly biased to the MTR athlete and they constantly chose Coldwell, even when beaten by Potter - Beth never gets the nod. I think the only time they have raced each other in the MTR was the Commonwealths, where Potter beat Coldwell by about 30 seconds.

It has been the same for years and years. Whitcombe, Cave, Swallow, Blatchford, Dillon, Stimpson, Pallant. I can’t even try to explain it.

When Lucy Charles approached them to get into Tri they wouldn’t even consider it.

The key here is injuries. I honestly don’t see Learmouth in Paris. Forget the domestique route, she won’t be fit to compete. Then Coldwell has to stay in one piece.

I think Beth is not far away from a podium at the test event. Still alot of room for improvement on the bike-run portion, as her lower technical skills compared to the rest of the front pack means she is pushing more watts, and this explains her “sub par” runs compared to Duffy, given the fact she would smash her in an Open 10km.

But she is gonna have to keep performing right to death in 2024 to get picked. And that isn’t good when you want to peak in Paris.

Her sub par runs aren’t really sub par. Last winter she dropped a couple of run sessions to incorporate extra swim and bike sessions. She did an interview where she talked about working on weaknesses and maintaining her run on 3 runs a week. Leading the swim at the Commonwealths in front of Duffy and GTB proves she can do it.

682

Beth is now on Podium B funding - the second highest level. It would have taken a top 3 at Abu Dhabi grand final to make A. The 3 podiums at Montreal, Hamburg and Bermuda were more than enough to ensure auto inclusion at B.

683

Learmonth would qualify discretionary as a domestique for GTB. I can’t see her auto qualifying this time round simply due to the fact that she missed the whole of last season and is still in rehab at Bisham Abbey.

GB policies is all around the test event and being an existing medalist. So basically GTB, Learmonth, Yee and Brownlee have an advantage before they even start the race. (Assuming Holland won’t be on the start line in August!).

Following that Coldwell has an advantage over Potter because the next level criteria considers MTR medals at World and European level. Which goes back to my previous statement regarding actual selection for MTR races. Potter consistently beat Coldwell last year but Coldwell always got the nod for the MTR. If you don’t get picked you can’t stack the cards in your favour.

Potter will have to auto qualify to go to Paris, which is harder as the policy works against her.

I honestly don’t think Learmouth will show the fitness to be selected for Indivdual or MTR. She’s 35 this year and serious injuries at that age tend to end you.

The GB selection policies are actually an absolute circus. Leeds last year was ridiculous. They knew fine well that AB was nowhere near fit, but had Tom Bishop racing here, there and everywhere at the last minute and Alex Yee is having to prove himself in this unofficial selection race. They just make it up as they go along.

The GF last year was the excuse they needed to keep Beth off Podium. I’d say the safest route is to podium at the Test Event or GF this year. I have a feeling the women’s team will be a similar situation to the Mens in 2021, with the final picks after the Leeds 2024 race.

Totally agree, it is a farce. It has been the same for years. The embarrassment of selections for 2012 and all of the appeals was just the tip of the iceberg. It is every Olympic cycle. Beth will not be going to the Olympics unless she auto qualifies, and she knows that. They are never going to willingly chose her for an MTR event to give her the opportunity to meet the 2nd criteria so she needs to podium and make them pick her. Their choice is GTB + Coldwell and one other. GTB is stand out but the policy is clearly biased to the MTR athlete and they constantly chose Coldwell, even when beaten by Potter - Beth never gets the nod. I think the only time they have raced each other in the MTR was the Commonwealths, where Potter beat Coldwell by about 30 seconds.

It has been the same for years and years. Whitcombe, Cave, Swallow, Blatchford, Dillon, Stimpson, Pallant. I can’t even try to explain it.

When Lucy Charles approached them to get into Tri they wouldn’t even consider it.

The key here is injuries. I honestly don’t see Learmouth in Paris. Forget the domestique route, she won’t be fit to compete. Then Coldwell has to stay in one piece.

I think Beth is not far away from a podium at the test event. Still alot of room for improvement on the bike-run portion, as her lower technical skills compared to the rest of the front pack means she is pushing more watts, and this explains her “sub par” runs compared to Duffy, given the fact she would smash her in an Open 10km.

But she is gonna have to keep performing right to death in 2024 to get picked. And that isn’t good when you want to peak in Paris.

Her sub par runs aren’t really sub par. Last winter she dropped a couple of run sessions to incorporate extra swim and bike sessions. She did an interview where she talked about working on weaknesses and maintaining her run on 3 runs a week. Leading the swim at the Commonwealths in front of Duffy and GTB proves she can do it.

I was aware she went from 5 to 4 and now to 3 runs a week. But I still think based on recent standalone runs she should be alot closer to Duffy on the run. And that totally makes sense given she’s only been riding a bike for 5 years and isn’t quite as polished technically so has to work harder than she should. Based on Superleague Arena Games she definitely has the W/kg.

684

Beth is now on Podium B funding - the second highest level. It would have taken a top 3 at Abu Dhabi grand final to make A. The 3 podiums at Montreal, Hamburg and Bermuda were more than enough to ensure auto inclusion at B.

This is really encouraging and supports the commitment Beth has made since switching to Tri.

Hopefully, Commonwealth Bronze won’t be her only major games medal.

685

What do you mean by Beth is on podium B funding?
Do you know her or somebody who knows her?
She is still shown on British triathlon website as on Podium potential
Podium B would mean Podium and B level within that?

686

What do you mean by Beth is on podium B funding?
Do you know her or somebody who knows her?
She is still shown on British triathlon website as on Podium potential
Podium B would mean Podium and B level within that?

I’m Beth’s triathlon coach and she has definitely been told she’s on Podium funding at Level B. I expect the BTF website hasn’t been updated with the latest selections.

687

Oh that’s great news.
Definitely deserves podium level
Couldn’t understand why they hadn’t promoted her
Guess they just need to move her bio on their website

688

What do you mean by Beth is on podium B funding?
Do you know her or somebody who knows her?
She is still shown on British triathlon website as on Podium potential
Podium B would mean Podium and B level within that?

I’m Beth’s triathlon coach and she has definitely been told she’s on Podium funding at Level B. I expect the BTF website hasn’t been updated with the latest selections.

Mr Maitland as I live and breathe.

689

In a off road battle today Summer Rapp and GJ did a MTB race. Summer beat GJ by 2 mins. Happy to see Summer getting out of her comfort zone and doing some things to hopefully improve her bike handling/psyche to help her allow her S and R speeds to truly come together at the WTCS level. She recently did a coaching change to OB, and this type of move I think will really pay off for her.

690

Is LCB still somehow in the mix??Still? I suggest she never was, except in playing to the gallery and pandemic affected race(s).

That’s a bit harsh. She had a couple of very solid results. And has the ability to change the race, potentially to the advantage of Taylor-Brown. Just not sure if after her injured year she still plans to give it a go or had given up. It seems to be too late now, having not scored any points last year.

She has not scored any OG qualifying points at the moment. She could still hit the qualifying mark, but the bigger question is her selection prospects with the crowded GB ladies team. I suspect we don’t see her give it a go, but if she did, it could make things interesting. I can’t see her factoring into the MTR, so she would definitely be there as a domestique for GTB, and then it would have to be Coldwell as the other choice for the MTR… I don’t see that happening, but then again, someone has an off race at the test event and others crush it, and it changes the game significantly…

691

Is LCB still somehow in the mix??Still? I suggest she never was, except in playing to the gallery and pandemic affected race(s).

That’s a bit harsh. She had a couple of very solid results. And has the ability to change the race, potentially to the advantage of Taylor-Brown. Just not sure if after her injured year she still plans to give it a go or had given up. It seems to be too late now, having not scored any points last year.

She has not scored any OG qualifying points at the moment. She could still hit the qualifying mark, but the bigger question is her selection prospects with the crowded GB ladies team. I suspect we don’t see her give it a go, but if she did, it could make things interesting. I can’t see her factoring into the MTR, so she would definitely be there as a domestique for GTB, and then it would have to be Coldwell as the other choice for the MTR… I don’t see that happening, but then again, someone has an off race at the test event and others crush it, and it changes the game significantly…

That scenario is highly unlikely. Learmonth is more likely to go as a domestique than Lucy. Coldwell won’t be a shoe in, the policy is biased in her favour but there are potentially 3/4 athletes who could go.

692

I would not usually bring up this guy in this thread, lord knows he has enough threads dedicated to him on here. But just saw that Lionel is going to do the Montreal super league arena games coming up. I think for him personally it is a good move to focus on pure speed in the events, he certainly has the endurance part of it down. But I fear this is going to be a lot like the Wurf entry into the Malibu race, over in the first two minutes of the swim, and after that just more pile on of just how fast these guys really go in these super sprints…

So what is the swim in these races, still 200LCM? Any predictions? Maybe this is to focus on his transitions, which have needed some tune ups for a long time now…

693

Not shocked that Lionel will race it, given his long association with Zwift… That said, my prediction is that he gets slaughtered. It’ll be good for him, and for his transitions, but he’ll be out of it out of the pool, and his strengths are weaker than the field over these type of distances. I suspect it will look a lot like when Tim Don tried the Arena games.

On the GB situation, agree that Learmonth has a much better shot as a domestique for GTB than Lucy, but again, she’ll need to get healthy and get back into races in order to factor into that.

Sophie is not a shoe in, but given that she has shown WTCS podium form and potential, and has been one of their best MTR athletes (and super sprint races), she’s in a good spot for a discretionary selection (she was the alternate for Tokyo because of the MTR skills, and probably would have been selected if Vicky Holland hadn’t auto-qualified).

694

I would not usually bring up this guy in this thread, lord knows he has enough threads dedicated to him on here. But just saw that Lionel is going to do the Montreal super league arena games coming up. I think for him personally it is a good move to focus on pure speed in the events, he certainly has the endurance part of it down. But I fear this is going to be a lot like the Wurf entry into the Malibu race, over in the first two minutes of the swim, and after that just more pile on of just how fast these guys really go in these super sprints…

So what is the swim in these races, still 200LCM? Any predictions? Maybe this is to focus on his transitions, which have needed some tune ups for a long time now…

Remember superleague mix up the legs all sorts of ways. If they start first round with bike he may get through one round. This particular event in Canada has a much weaker field than normal. Top tier WTS guys have not entered, appears they have been having trouble filling the start list, which obviously helps him also.

695

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2023_americas_triathlon_cup_sarasota/582003

sarasota start lists are up. no gwen but katie is there . . .

696

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2023_americas_triathlon_cup_sarasota/582003

sarasota start lists are up. no gwen but katie is there . . .

Bit far to travel back from NZ when there is a world cup race it has been stated she is targeting. She will likely race Devonport conti cup in Australia while in the area as well. 3 races available.

697

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2023_americas_triathlon_cup_sarasota/582003

sarasota start lists are up. no gwen but katie is there . . .

Katie is on the start list for Abu Dhabi too

The start list for the Arena games is a bit soft. I think that might be because it is one week before Abu Dahbi and who wants to do that travel schedule?

ANyhow, here is the start list:

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2023_world_triathlon_championship_series_abu_dhabi/581954

Duffy is not on the list. I think she has entered the phase of here career where she has one goal, win another Olympic games.

On the men’s side, I like that the US men are sending their quartet. It’s time to get busy scoring points and securing the 3 Olympic slots.

698

Duffy just needs to rank such that Bermuda gets a slot, I suspect that unless she is injured or retired, she will get selected by their federation…

But yes, Abu Dhabi and beyond the OG qualification race will heat up, especially for the countries trying to secure a 3rd spot.

699

KZ does our weekly shop ride so I got to speak to her. She’s “chasing points” and a lot of WC’s are summer or late season so she’s taking what she can get.

She won’t have an issue reaching the min standard to be eligible for Paris (neither will GJ). But it’ll be interesting to see how she can go in some Wtcs races. first race back will be a good rust buster no doubt so not taking much from it.

700

Flora is being smart, building slowly into the season… we’re not even three months out from the end of last season, so it makes sense for her to sit out this first event.