Another week, another batch of Olympic qualifiers confirmed. Over the past seven days, some two dozen athletes have had their Olympic slots made official by their national federations. Among the countries to finalise their squads were the hosts, France, the USA, and two countries that succeeded in securing third slots, Spain and Italy.
A series of fascinating selections have already been made across the board, while further athletes have locked in their berths on other teams. Read on to find out the latest developments in the Olympic selection stories and discover who will be on the start line in Paris this summer. Separately, a full breakdown covering those to have unfortunately missed out will be posted once all the teams have been confirmed.
France
When word came in that the official announcement of the French team would be taking place on Wednesday, the triathlon world shuffled forward to the edge of its collective seat. The hosts had an invidious task of finalising their men’s team in particular and no one could be quite sure how the selection would pan out.
As was expected, Pierre Le Corre and Cassandre Beaurgand secured their slots. Both had earned provisional selection in 2023 and then backed it up with their showings at WTCS Cagliari this year. Likewise, Leonie Periault and Emma Lombardi were nominated after nailing podium finishes at WTCS Yokohama.
The remaining two men’s slots were assigned to Dorian Coninx and Leo Bergere. The latter finished 4th in Yokohama, essentially matching the top-6 requirement attained by Periault and Lombardi. Coninx, however, crashed out of the same race. Nevertheless, Coninx had earned pre-selection in 2023 by winning WTCS Pontevedra and claiming the world title which proved enough to insert him onto the team.
USA
The American team announcement followed on the heels of their French counterparts. With Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson already on the team, two female slots and one male slot were up for grabs.
In the end, Taylor Spivey, Kirsten Kasper and Seth Rider received the nods. Spivey and Kasper finished 4th and 5th, respectively, at WTCS Yokohama which was formally designated as the final selection race for USA Triathlon. Both women will be making their Olympic debuts after years of toil. Moreover, Spivey’s selection will allow her to lay to rest the memories of coming so despairingly close to selection for the Tokyo Olympics but missing out. Meanwhile, Rider has been selected with an eye on the Mixed Team Relay.
Spain
Towards the end of 2023, Miriam Casillas Garcia and Antonio Serrat Seoane were unveiled as the first provisional picks of the Spanish Olympic team. In a similar manner to the French team, though, Casillas and Serrat nonetheless had to confirm their places in 2024. Both athletes managed to do so and were formally announced as Olympians this week.
Serrat will be joined by Roberto Sanchez Mantecon and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia. The latter was pivotal in Spain’s quest for a third male slot and gets his reward for single-handedly making it a reality. Completing the women’s team will be Anna Godoy Contreras who is fresh off a personal best WTCS finish in Yokohama.
Italy
Whereas Spain had three men’s slots to fill, Italy had three female slots to utilise and it was no easy decision to determine the recipients. It came to pass that Bianca Seregni, Verena Steinhauser and Alice Betto were the names the Italian federation would go for.
On the men’s side, the two slots were claimed by Gianluca Pozzatti and Alessio Crociani. As a result, the Italian team can call upon a blend of youth and experience in its line-up.
Switzerland
Another country to announce its full team this week was Switzerland. Home to previous Olympic medallists in the men’s and women’s race, the Swiss team only need a Mixed Team Relay medal to complete the Olympic set.
In Paris, they will be represented by Julie Derron, Cathia Schär, Max Studer and Adrien Briffod.
Dialled in for the big show
In addition to the teams named above, other countries have announced athletes to their Olympic squads, Maya Kingma officially nominated to the Dutch team with Rachel Klamer. Furthermore, Richard Murray and Mitch Kolkman will be starting under the Dutch colours in Paris as they were also confirmed following their relay qualification in Huatulco.
Jeanne Lehair has been confirmed as the sole qualifier from Luxembourg, while Petra Kurikova is in the same position for the Czech Republic. Solveig Løvseth and Lotte Miller will also join Kristian Blummenfelt and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn on the Norwegian Olympic team after their places were similarly confirmed.
With less than 50 days to go, stay tuned as the final Olympic qualifiers are announced in the coming days and keep in the loop with all the latest in the build-up to Paris across all World Triathlon channels.
