Over the years, elite triathlon has called many places home. Some in particular stand out as spiritual homes of sorts, venues so deeply intertwined with the lore of the sport that the two go hand-in-hand. Think the quarter century of racing in Hamburg, or the countryside town of Tiszaujvaros springing to life every year when the sport rolls in. Yokohama is likewise steeped in triathlon history. And then there is London.
Site of the Brownlee homecoming in 2012 that really lifted the sport to new levels on the Olympic stage, of the epic 2013 women’s world title clash between three legends of the sport, of the iconic 2014 men’s showdown that saw three Olympic medallists miss the podium in a six-way stand-off, London played an immense part in the early rise of the WTCS. Now, over a decade after it last appeared on the circuit, it is back.
To mark the return of WTCS London, we have four world champions of the 2020s, including the last three, and every women’s Series gold medallist since the start of 2023 present. With the athletes contesting a one-lap 750m swim, seven-lap 20km bike and a three-lap 5km run, brace yourselves for a sprint distance race (shown live on TriathlonLive from 14:30 BST) that seems all but certain to add to the rich history of triathlon in Britain’s capital.
Here comes the boom
Since the start of 2024, three women have won over the sprint distance in the WTCS: Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA), reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER) and the winner of the previous round in Hamburg, Leonie Periault (FRA). Periault also won in Hamburg in 2025 on a day in which she inflicted Beaugrand’s only sprint distance defeat since March 2023.
At the same time, we cannot forget that Beaugrand broke a third French national record (this time over the 3000m) during the Hamburg weekend and owns the fastest ever women’s 5km split in WTCS history: a 15:19 from WTCS French Riviera last summer. The form book therefore points to one of these three stars taking the win in London, with Beaugrand and Periault looking in especially good nick.
The British crown
Also starting will be Beth Potter (GBR), the 2023 world champion and current Series leader, and Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), the 2020 world champion. Potter followed a win at the Series opener in Samarkand with consecutive silver medals while Taylor-Brown has been hovering around a first Series medal of the season. She also claimed a maiden T100 win in Spain.
One interesting detail is how the two women’s WTCS careers are now virtually identical. From 34 Series starts (excluding Olympic Games and Test Events that have counted to Series totals), Potter has recorded 6 wins, 18 medals and 26 top-10 finishes. For her part Taylor-Brown has 6 wins, 15 medals and 26 top-10s from 33 starts.
A victory on home soil, then, could swing the career stats in favour of one of Potter or Taylor-Brown ahead of some distant potential future debate over Britain’s best triathlete of the 2020s.
Excited ‘cause we’re reunited
WTCS London boasts plenty of further big names such as Tilda Månsson (SWE), the winner of WTCS Yokohama who is on a three-race medal streak in the Series, Jeanne Lehair (LUX), who is 2nd overall in the Series, and podium regulars Taylor Spivey (USA) and Emma Lombardi (FRA). There are two women further down the start list, however, that could turn the race on its head.
At the Tisszaujvaros World Cup in June, Fanni Szalai (HUN) and Taylor Knibb (USA) ripped the field apart as part of a three-woman breakaway and left with the gold and silver medal, respectively. Szalai subsequently impressed on her WTCS debut in Hamburg, even attempting a solo break on the bike, while Knibb used the same Tiszy tactic to earn a maiden World Cup win in Edmonton.
Now back together, the duo could conceivably get the jump on everyone listed above in London. The super-short bike laps, redolent of the course in Tiszaujvaros, could also help a Szalai-Knibb breakaway (plus others) build up momentum in no time at all. And if there is one thing we have learned over the past four weeks, it is that it is too risky to let athletes as strong as them escape up the road.