With the Olympic qualifying window closed, and the rankings finalised, all eyes are now on triathlon at the Paris Olympic Games, which kicks off in the French capital on July 30.
Below, we look at which athletes have guaranteed their slots and which nations managed to secure the maximum amount of spots for the individual races.
Team USA
The American team has notoriously been one of the hardest to make over the last Olympic cycles, with discretionary selection committees forced to make decisions between some of the best athletes in the world.
Ahead of Paris, only two athletes – Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson – had secured automatic qualification, leaving three spots to be decided by the committee.
Women
- Taylor Knibb
- Taylor Spivey
- Kirsten Kasper
On the women’s side, Taylor Spivey, who had finished fourth at WTCS Yokohama, plus Kirsten Kasper, fifth at the same race, were given the discretionary slots, ahead of Olympic medalist Katie Zaferes and 2016 Olympic Champion Gwen Jorgensen.
Both Jorgensen and Zaferes will now act as alternates for the Paris Olympic Games, following a hard fought 18 month period which saw the pair chasing points and ranking positions just to make it into the top races.
Men
- Morgan Pearson
- Seth Rider
Selecting the second spot on the men’s squad came down to a decision between Seth Rider and Matthew McElroy, both of whom missed out on selection for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Despite being the top ranked American athlete over the last two Olympic cycles, McElroy again missed out on a spot, with Rider selected ahead of him to represent the Stars and Stripes in the French capital.
Team GB
After a brilliant Olympics in Tokyo, which saw both Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown pick up individual medals and the mixed team relay win Olympic gold, selecting the British squad for Paris was never going to be straightforward.
Both Yee and reigning world champion Beth Potter won the Paris Test Event last season to secure their spots, but following the end of the Olympic qualification period, there were still three slots left to be decided.
Women
- Beth Potter
- Georgia Taylor-Brown
- Kate Waugh
Taylor-Brown finished 6th in Cagliari last month and was handed one of those coveted discretionary slots. The other went to Waugh, despite the fact she finished behind Coldwell in Cagliari (7th and 10th respectively). Waugh though finished second in the WTCS finals last year and is the reigning Super League champion.
Men
- Alex Yee
- Sam Dickinson
On the men’s side, triathlon’s most decorated Olympian Jonny Brownlee WILL NOT be in action at Paris 2024 after agonisingly missing out to Sam Dickinson in the battle for that final discretionary slot in the men’s race.
A poor run of form from Brownlee left the door ajar for Dickinson, and he pipped Jonny by just three seconds in a super-spring face-off in Poland recently. It appears that may have tipped the scales in his favour.
Team France
Having secured spots for three men and three women at a home Olympic Games, deciding the team to represent France was relatively straightforward on the women’s side, but has proved to be very polarizing for the men.
Women
- Cassandre Beaugrand
- Emma Lombardi
- Leonie Periault
Boasting the two winners from the WTCS circuit so far in 2024, Periault in Yokohama and Beaugrand in Cagliari, the French women’s team chose itself for Paris. Add in Lombardi, one of the sport’s brightest talents, and it looks more likely than not we will see at least one French woman on the podium in July.
Men
- Pierre Le Corre
- Dorian Coninx
- Leo Bergere
On the men’s side, the omission of two-time World Champion Vincent Luis caused outrage on social media, with the fan favourite expressing bis disappointment on Instagram following the announcement.
Le Corre and Coninx secured preliminary selection last year, with Le Corre confirming his place with a Top 6 at WTCS Cagliari. Coninx, the reigning world champion, was chosen despite breaking his wrist in a bike crash in Yokohama, with 2022 world champion Bergere preferred over Luis.
Team Germany
The German squad was another team that primarily chose itself, with Tim Hellwig, Lisa Tertsch and Laura Lindemann all finishing on a WTCS podium in the last 12 months.
Strong athletes such as Lasse Nygaard Priester, Marlene Gomez-Goggel and Annabel Knoll were unlucky to miss out, but along with reigning World U23 Champions Simon Henseleit and Selina Klamt, will already be looking ahead to LA 2028.
Women
- Nina Eim
- Lisa Tertsch
- Laura Lindemann
Men
- Tim Hellwig
- Lasse Luhrs
- Jonas Schomburg
Team Norway
Thanks to a brilliant performance at the mixed team relay event in Huatulco last month, where they took the win, Team Norway were able to send two men and two women to Paris, with loyal lieutenants Lotte Miller and Solveig Lovseth selected for the women’s squad.
On the men’s side, Olympic Champion Kristian Blummenfelt guaranteed his spot thanks to his individual performances, with Vetle Bergsvik Thorn chosen over relay partner Casper Stornes following a strong run of races over the last 12 months.
Women
- Lotte Miller
- Solveig Lovseth
Men
- Kristian Blummenfelt
- Vetle Bergsvik Thorn
Elite Women Qualifiers
Team Australia
- Natalie Van Coevorden
- Sophie Linn
Team New Zealand
- Nicole Van Der Kaay
- Ainsley Thorpe
Team Italy
- Bianca Seregni
- Verena Steinhauser
- Alice Betto
Team Portugal
- Melanie Santos
- Maria Tomé
Team Netherlands
- Rachel Klamer
- Maya Kingma
Team Spain
- Miriam Casillas Garcia
- Anna Godoy Contreras
Team Switzerland
- Julie Derron
- Cathia Schar
Team Brazil
- Vittoria Lopes
- Djenyfyr Arnold
Team Belgium
- Claire Michel
- Jolien Vermeylen
Team Mexico
- Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal
- Lizeth Rueda Santos
Team Bermuda
- Flora Duffy
- Erica Hawley
Team Canada
- Emy Legault
Team Czech Republic
- Petra Kurikova
Team Japan
- Yuko Takahashi
Team Denmark
- Alberte Kjaer Pedersen
Team Hungary
- Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer
Team Colombia
- Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto
Team Ecuador
- Elizabeth Bravo
Team Sweden
- Tilda Mansson
Team Iceland
- Edda Hannesdottir
Team South Africa
- Vicky Van Der Merwe
Team Luxembourg
- Jeanne Lehair
Team Argentina
- Romina Biagioli
Team Kazakstan
- Ekaterina Shabalina
Team Poland
- Roksana Słupek
Team Guam
- Manami Iijima
Elite Men qualifiers
Team Spain
- Alberto Gonzalez Garcia
- Roberto Sanchez Mantecón
- Antonio Serrat Seoane
Team Portugal
- Ricardo Batista
- Vasco Vilaca
Team New Zealand
- Hayden Wilde
- Dylan McCullough
Team Belgium
- Jelle Geens
- Marten Van Riel
Team Switzerland
- Adrien Briffod
- Max Studer
Team Italy
- Alessio Crociani
- Gianluzza Pozzatti
Team Mexico
- Aram Michell Penaflor Moysen
- Crisanto Grajales Valencia
Team Hungary
- Bence Bicsak
- Csongor Lehmann
Team Austria
- Alois Knabl
- Tjebbe Kaindl
Team Canada
- Charles Paquet
- Tyler Mislawchuk
Team Brazil
- Manoel Messias
- Miguel Hidalgo
Team Australia
- Matthew Hauser
- Luke Willian
Team South Africa
- Jamie Riddle.
- Henri Schoeman.
Team Chile
- Diego Moya
- Gaspar Riveros
Team Japan
- Kenji Nener
- Makoto Odakura
Team Netherlands
- Richard Murray
- Mitch Kolkman
Team Morocco
- Jawad Abdemoula
Team Israel
- Shachar Sagiv
Team Azerbaijan
- Rostislav Pevtsov
Team Togo
- Eloi Adjavon
Team Barbados
- Matthew Wright
Team Hong Kong
- Jason Tai Long Ng
Team Romania
- Felix Duchampt
Team Denmark
- Emil Holm
Team Bermuda
- Tyler Smith
How many athletes can each country send?
If a federation has any three athletes inside the Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking Top 30, then they can send three athletes of their choice to the Olympics, with other federations limited to a maximum of two.
On the men’s side, only France, Germany and Spain have secured that ability, with Alberto Gonzalez Garcia’s 11th place finish in Cagliari enough to leapfrog Hungarian Mark Devay into #30 and secure Team Spain three men at the expense of Team Hungary.
For the women, Team Germany and Team France have again secured three spots. Joining them are Team USA, Team Great Britain and Team Italy. Remarkably Germany, Great Britain and the USA all have four athletes in the Top 30, making for quite a headache when it came to selection.
For all other national federations, there teams will be limited to a maximum of two athletes per gender, with countries that succeed in qualifying four athletes (two men and two women) qualifying for the Mixed Team Relay event.
