On Saturday 13 July, the women’s 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg will see not just the leading lights of this year’s world championship title charge going shoulder to shoulder for the third time, but several of the names on everyone’s lips for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold hitting the blue carpet.

For the 23rd consecutive year the streets of Hamburg will be in thrall to the speed and sights and sounds of world-class triathlon racing, and with defending champion here Cassandre Beaugrand back to her best in Cagliari and Beth Potter looking to continue her pitch-perfect progress to Paris, this year’s edition looks set to be a classic.

The sprint-distance affair begins as ever with the 750m swim that includes a 40m section in near total darkness under the bridge back towards the ramp. From there the fast and flat 20km bike covers six laps before it all boils down to a searing 5km (2-lap) run to the tape.

Watch all the action from 3.55pm CEST pm over on TriathlonLive.tv.

Lombardi leads the line

It is Beaugrand’s French teammate Emma Lombardi who leads the Series and wears the number one this time around, coming in hot off a fourth place in Cagliari and bronze in Yokohama in May. Still only 22 years of age but with one of the coolest heads out there on the circuit, a first Series win surely can’t be far off. 

Only one previous appearance in Hamburg was undone by trouble on the bike segment that left Lombardi way off the pace. The fourth fastest run splits in both the Series races so far in 2024 show exactly where she needs to find the gains to hit the gold.

Former Hamburg medallists take aim

Lisa Tertsch is the top-ranked German woman in Hamburg and no stranger to the podium here. One of the fastest runners on the circuit as she proved on route to silver in Cagliari with the top split by a second over Beaugrand, the 25-year-old was also a bronze medallist two years ago.

Beaugrand could be favourite to wrestle that top time over the 5km this weekend, however, after crushing the elimination format last year to claim the second Hamburg gold of her career. The winner in Cagliari, second in the 2023 Series and a clear favourite to medal at a home Games, these are the moments Cassandre Beaugrand will look back on for the rest of her days. Just how far will she go?

The woman who shared the headlines but took the spoils last year and could well have a decisive role to play again this time around is Britain’s Beth Potter.  She may not have been 100% in Cagliari but still took the bronze and is oozing a calm confidence under the spotlight of reigning world champion and Test Event winner. Hamburg will be another fascinating insight into her form and prospects.

Jorgensen and Zaferes headline for USA

Two long-term legends of US triathlon will be able to focus their attentions on the Series after the Olympic proved elusive, both of whom know what it takes to be world champion. For Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen, the road back to triathlon’s top table has been far from plain sailing, but the journeys have certainly been gripping, and both find themselves on the cusp of the top 20 in the rankings with just one scoring race so far. Jorgensen won here in 2014 and 2015, Zaferes in 2016. Never would a beer shower feel so good as it would to podium again in 2024. 

Further medal potential lies with Maya Kingma (NED) and Jeanne Lehair (LUX), both sizing up their Olympic prospects with a Hamburg hit out and knowing they can be as good as anyone on their day. 

Expect Kingma to set the pace in the swim along with Italy’s Bianca Seregni and GB duo Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias. For Waugh, inclusion in the GB team for Paris will still be ringing loud and a third WTCS Hamburg would be the perfect time to shine ahead of the race of her life. Rachel Klamer (11 Hamburg appearances) and Alice Betto (7 appearances to date) have the experience and power to be present, correct and competing for the medals at the pointy end once again on a course they know well.