Paris 2024: Who will race for Team GB and what are their medal chances?
It was one of the toughest teams to qualify for, but five triathletes nailed it. Meet your class of ‘24 – Alex Yee, Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh and Sam Dickinson
The British triathlon squad know a thing or two about winning Olympic medals, having won more than any other nation – eight to be precise – since triathlon was first introduced at the Sydney Games in 2000.
That impressive tally includes three golds (Alistair Brownlee – London and Rio, plus mixed team relay at Tokyo), three silvers (Jonny Brownlee in Rio, Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown in Tokyo); and two bronze (Jonny Brownlee in London and Vicky Holland in Rio).
So, what are our chances for Paris? Well, superb! Yee and Taylor-Brown are back in the mix, the former a favourite to take gold in the men’s event. While reigning champ, test event winner and former track Olympian Beth Potter is racing her first Games in triathlon.
Joining them are Kate Waugh – a potential individual medallist in her own right – and Sam Dickinson, who were both selected for their mixed team relay prowess.
Which triathletes are racing for Team GB at the Paris Olympic Games 2024?
Alex Yee and Beth Potter
That Yee and Potter were guaranteed second appearances at a Games was already assured after the pair hit the qualification standards earlier last 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 – Yee can be upset.
Georgia Taylor-Brown
With Tokyo silver and gold medallist Taylor-Brown missing key qualification races in 2023 through a calf tear, she was eventually selected based on her form in 2024, with two podiums plus a sixth place in Cagliari.
“She was the first of the three past the post [in Sardinia], obviously has the pedigree that others haven’t with multiple wins and podiums and is a reigning Olympic medallist having achieved that off horrendous preparation [Taylor-Brown was on crutches 12 weeks before Tokyo],” said performance director Mike Cavendish.
“It was probably always going to be a little bit easier for her, but she had to go out and perform and got closer to that podium. We know she is on her way back from a significant chunk of time out last year, and we expect her to step forward.”
Kate Waugh
The coveted third GB women’s spot went to 2022 World U23 champion, last year’s runner-up in Pontevedra and 2023 supertri champion, Waugh.
Unlike in previous Olympics where there have been assigned domestique or pilot roles for GB athetes, all three of the selected women will be free to race for individual glory.
Sam Dickinson
The second men’s slot was a surprise choice as many had expected Jonny Brownlee to get the nod for his fourth and final Olympic Games. But youth won out over experience, and Dickinson was given the green light, ending the 16-year Brownlee/Olympics era.
“Sam’s made a significant step forward,” Cavendish said, explaining the selection. “He’s matured over the last 3-4 years. He’s done numerous relays for us since Tokyo. He’s robust in a way he hasn’t been before, and he’s outperformed Jonny, albeit only marginally, in Kielce [a two-round, super-sprint continental cup race, where they were both sent to prove who should be picked for the relay].
“Our challenge with Jonny was simply that through a combination of injury, illness, bad luck, race programming, he’s just not given us the evidence.
“Jonny is a legend of the sport, no-one needs me to tell them, but unfortunately – and Jonny wouldn’t expect us to – we can’t select on sentiment, and the slightly greater body of evidence in terms of current form and relay stature, and what we think we’re likely to see in Paris, Sam just had the edge. But it was incredibly close.”
- Paris 2024: “I’m the best person for the job in Paris,” says Sam Dickinson
- Mixed Team Relay Triathlon: what it is and which team will win Paris 2024?
- Who are the triathlon Olympic podium contenders at Paris 2024?
For it to be the “best ever” Team GB Olympic triathlon squad, as mooted in a Guardian headline, four medals need to be returned. Not impossible, but also never achieved in Olympic triathlon history.
Who are the Team GB triathlon reserves for Paris?
Sophie Coldwell
Unless there is injury or illness in the Team GB camp, Loughborough-based Sophie Coldwell will arguably be the most talented triathlete NOT to participate at the Paris Olympics after she lost out in an agonising selection decision in June.
Having missed out on Tokyo in 2021 after the team was selected in autumn 2019, the 29-year-old felt she had justified her spot after winning Yokohama WTCS last year and then finishing 13secs and three places ahead of Waugh – her closest rival for selection – in the nominated priority race this summer in Cagliari.
While Coldwell’s initial appeal was upheld by the arbitration committee, the three-person panel from British Triathlon then returned the same decision. It left Coldwell – ranked eighth in the Olympic rankings and the highest ranked athlete to miss out on Paris – feeling “disappointed, sad, but above all angry at my federation.”
Instead, Coldwell, who won Commonwealth gold in the mixed team relay in Birmingham in 2022, has accepted her spot as a reserve, a role she is familiar with having previously fulfilled it in Tokyo.
Jonny Brownlee
The last time Jonny went to an Olympic Games not to compete was as an 18-year-old in Beijing. Earmarked for his potential, he was there for the experience, and watched older brother Alistair take it to the world’s best before eventually fading to 12th place.
Sixteen years on, he’ll be there in a supporting capacity if needed as the elder statesman of the team as Great Britain tries to defend its mixed team relay title.
Having made the decision to continue after Tokyo, Brownlee was unable to show enough form to clinch the one remaining male spot alongside Yee for the individual event. A difficult selection decision came down to who would be best equipped for the relay, with Dickinson getting the nod.
“I have not been selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Tokyo mixed team relay was one of the many highlights of my career and I still believe I could have helped Team GB win another medal in Paris,” Brownlee said in a statement.
“I will be supporting the team in whatever way I can and really hope they go on to defend the title!”
He continued: “I have achieved more than I could ever have imagined in my Olympic career. After 99 world triathlon starts, 52 podiums and three Olympic medals, it’s not the fairytale ending that I’d wished for, but Paris was always a bonus, and it can be the unwritten chapter of an incredible book! I have a great summer to look forward to and some exciting racing ahead.”
220 Triathlon Team
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