World Triathlon

If the Tokyo 2020 medal hunt looked wide open three years ago, then the Paris 2024 chase for glory surely goes even further in the unpredictability stakes.

All three medallists from that incredible finish in Odaiba Bay return; Kristian Blummenfelt, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde. Two subsequent World Champions are present and correct; Leo Bergere and Dorian Coninx. Add to those huge favourites Australia’s current top two in the Series, Luke Willian and Matthew Hauser, May’s WTCS Yokohama winner Morgan Pearson (USA), plus no fewer than 12 past WTCS medallists, and this is a race that is far too close to call.

And it is not just past performances that may point the way to the medals. Whoever can shrug off - or feed off – the unique pressures of an Olympic Games will surely have the edge, too. Preparation is key, a healthy dose of good fortune can also go a long way. It’s a 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run that stands between the 55 men starting and a career-, if not lifetime-defining victory.

Men’s Paris 2024 individual triathlon: 8am, Tuesday 30 July.

TRIUMPHANT IN TOKYO

Any preview needs to begin with the defending champion, Kristian Blummenfelt. It was out of the fires of that final kilometre in Tokyo that the Norwegian was able to summon reserves of energy and power that nobody else could match. Plus a 10km run split of 29’34” that was 10 seconds faster than his nearest rival.

Out-pacing Yee and Wilde over 10km today appears a Herculean task. Nobody could say Blummenfelt made it look easy, but the gap he was able to open up with consecutive surges completely broke the challenges of his nearest rivals.

Both Yee and Wilde have subsequently hit the top of the WTCS podium 11 times between them, including Yee’s Test Event triumph. Kristian Blummenfelt has done so just once, albeit at the 2021 Championship Finals Edmonton to be crowned world champion one month after Tokyo.

Having been ecstatic with their Olympic medals, and Yee following his with a relay gold, there is an inescapable feeling that anything less than the top of the podium this time around would feel like mission incomplete, such has been their progress and ambition in the past few seasons.

FRENCH THREAT

Then there is the French challenge. Home court advantage. How valuable will that prove to be in combination with the sheer talent of this team? The crowds urging them onwards along every metre of this course and, potentially crucially, packed into the grandstands down the blue carpet, will be priceless.

Current World Champion Dorian Coninx has bounced back from a crash in Yokohama that threatened to derail his Olympic campaign. There are mental as well as physical scars from such incidents, though, and that race in Japan was his last before the Games.

Like Blummenfelt the year before, Leo Bergere has also not hit the top of the podium since winning the gold and world title at the 2022 Championship Finals in Abu Dhabi, a career-defining moment that wrestled the prize from the likes of Yee, Wilde and Vasco Vilaça in the most dramatic fashion. Bergere’s secret weapon has been his consistency and unerring ability across all three disciplines. Rarely right in the spotlight, the 28-year-old can never be written off.

And the same can be said of Pierre Le Corre, the third French man on the team and another podium regular at the top level. The U23 World Champion way back in 2023, his first Series medal followed with bronze at Auckland 2015 the first of his six to date, including the WTCS Sunderland gold won as he edged the tightest of sprint finishes against Bergere.

AUSSIES ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Three races into the 2024 Series and the top two places on the Series leaderboard belong to Luke Willian and Matt Hauser. After the pain of Tokyo 2020, Australian triathlon could be set for a renaissance in Paris, Hauser’s win in Hamburg and silver in Yokohama suggesting he could be peaking at the perfect time. Olympic medals are won on more than form, but Hauser has the kind of strength over all three disciplines that such triathlon triumphs are built on.

The top American male at Paris 2024 is Morgan Pearson. Winner of the de facto season opener at WTCS Yokohama in some style, he has since struggled to rediscover his best form. One of the athletes who could match or even stretch the likes of Yee on his day, the pace on the bike could be make or break time for Pearson’s podium potential. Third fastest on the run at WTCS Hamburg but tenth slowest on the bike, the early cards will need to fall his way to be a contender.

Belgian Jelle Geens once again showed his form in Hamburg. The 31-year-old was denied his Tokyo 2020 start with illness but is ready to make an impact this time, along with compatriot Marten Van Riel, for whom 6th at Rio 2016 and 4th in Tokyo will be all the fuel his fire needs for a big show in Paris.

YOUNG GUNS AND NEW FLAGS

It is easy to forget that Vasco Vilaca is just 24 years old given his presence on the Series over the last season. Denied his Olympic shot in Tokyo, this may well be his time to shine, with five WTCS medals to his name since the start of 2022, albeit still hunting that first taste of gold.

Netherlands’ Mitch Kolkman will be the youngest man on the start list, but arrives with the wind in his sails after securing late qualification via the Mixed Relay event and World Cup Huatulco. Add in a strong 14th place at WTCS Hamburg and the future is looking bright for the 21-year-old.

Italy’s Alessio Crociani took a brilliant 7th place in Hamburg to take plenty of confidence to Paris, while the likes of Miguel Hidalgo of Brazil and Jamie Riddle of South Africa have more racing under their belt and Hidalgo, in particular, should be a genuine medal threat across all three disciplines.

Members of the Team World Triathlon development squad who qualified for the Games include Chile’s Diego Moya and Jawad Abdelmoula of Morocco. One New Flag place was available for each continent, with Jean Gael Laurent L’entete of Mauritius, Matthew Wright of Barbados, Eloi Adjavon of Togo and Felix Duchampt of Romania earning their spots, while Tyler Smith of Bermuda received a tripartite invitation.

For the full start list, click here.