There could hardly have been a more British way for the Olympic Committee to announce the first two triathletes to be awarded starting berths in Paris than afternoon tea at The Savoy. The genteel setting was also at odds with the scramble that will ensue for the remaining spots on the team.
That Alex Yee and Beth Potter were guaranteed second appearances at a Games (Yee’s first coming with silver and gold from Tokyo, and Potter competing over 10,000m on the track in 2016) was already assured after the pair hit the qualification standards earlier in the summer.
As a returning medallist, Yee’s victory in the Test Event last August was enough. Potter not only matched that win in Paris but followed it with another in the World Triathlon Championship Series Grand Final in Spain to end the season as world champion.
Both will cross the channel for the July-August races as favourites in what promises to be the most exciting showcase for the sport since London 2012, but while those halcyon days in Hyde Park sparked a run of GB winning eight of a possible 19 medals, more silverware is not a given.
Nobody will want to emerge with Yee on to the final 10km run with the south-east Londoner feeling as fresh as he did in the Test Event.
But as we’ve seen in the past two WTCS finales, that when others get their tactics right – notably the French, who are so strong 2022 world champion Léo Bergere could even miss selection – Yee can be upset.
"Hyde Park sparked a run of GB winning eight of a possible 19 medals, more silverware is not a given"
It’s also easy to overlook that Potter only claimed her first WTCS win in March and faces a similar scenario, with her running reputation meaning rivals, including the possible return of reigning champion Flora Duffy, trying to disrupt her chances early in the race.
The advantage the British pair have is the ability to plan from now until Paris without distraction. Every other British athlete must show form to clinch a place – different from the build into Tokyo where four of the five eventual slots were awarded by autumn 2019.
With GB’s men looking unlikely to secure the maximum allocation of three spots, it’s hard to see a world where a fit Jonny Brownlee is not selected for a fourth Games. Even if no longer an individual medal contender, he remains a safe pair of hands for the mixed team relay.
Barclay Izzard currently sits just ahead of Brownlee in the Olympic rankings, but that’s the harsh reality of sport at this level.
On the women’s side, the two remaining spots are also discretionary. Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh and Sophie Coldwell would be assured of Olympic starts for almost any other nation but there may also be Vicky Holland and Jess Learmonth, both Olympic medallists, to consider.
Much will depend on the WTCS Cagliari race in May, although selected athletes must then hold form for two months. Yee managed it after qualifying for Tokyo in Leeds, but it doesn’t always work out.
Injury and illness may have a hand to play too, but for it to be the "best ever" Team GB Olympic triathlon squad, as mooted in a recent Guardian headline, four medals need to be returned. Not impossible, but also never achieved in Olympic triathlon history.
Top illustration credit: Daniel Seex
