Taylor Knibb is on the T100 San Francisco start list. The race will take place on June the 8th.

As a long course fan I love it. As a short course fan I don't love it at all.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Ditto

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

There's no "subbing" involved here. Fédération Française de Triathlon (FFTRI) are required to declare their team via the French NOC (I think). They have set selection criteria but at the end of the May, it's up to them whom they name (by 17 June). And if they choose not to follow their policy that's down to them. Have athletes got an effective means of appeal with a chance of success: don't think so. But clearly not following policy will suffer severe reputational damage. Practically if Le Corre and Coninx are expected to be fit for Paris (and their state in May is obviously germane) then they will be two names of the (earned) quota of 3. FFTRI have to select either Luis or Bergère: straightforward really (not; but the more recent World Champion (Bergère) is the clear favourite, in 2022-2023 form terms).
After the team is named there are mechanisms to nominate a replacement athlete in the event of injury.
https://www.triathlon.org/...024-QS-Triathlon.pdf

Brooks is that you? So good to have you back! 😂

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Might be a training day to bag some points. She could do really well going 80%.

I mean… it is a fair point. But do you really believe it?

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Jonny Brownlee is doing Yokohama 🙏 hope he can turn the clock back and put in a decent performance.

I’m no Olympic athlete or coach so can’t speak to whether actually racing this would be detrimental to her Olympic race or not. But I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt either way. I mean why even qualify for the Olympics if you’re not going to do everything you can to have your best performance there.

Racing this local to her T100 means she has wriggle room for her contracted 3 races plus the Grand Final (GF) which means that she, if she wants doesn't have to do all of Ibiza, Las Vegas and Dubai: she can miss one.
Or it gives her 4 races to get 3 wins. It might also have a side benefit: making it more difficult for Gentle to get 3 wins. Fast forward to the GF at a venue with noname: Knibb would have the advantage as opposed to a GF neck-a-neck.
I expect Knibb wants to race Taupo. If she does she needs to validate her champion's AQ by completing a 70.3 by 30 June. 70.3 Mont Tremblant? EDit: I'm talking rubbish! She validated with Oceanside: that was the rationale for racing it.
I wonder what her previous coach thinks of this approach to Olympic preparation?
If she went 80% she'd be 10 minutes adrift of her best (say) and might make a top 10 finish. Have some respect for 15 of the top 17 female triathletes in the world. This promises to be the strongest ever field in triathlon history. I just hope all those listed start and am disappointed LCB is choosing to duck it.

f she went 80% she'd be 10 minutes adrift of her best (say) and might make a top 10 finish.//

It's just a number he threw out there, but it is more the premise to pay attention to. If I'm her coach, I tell her maybe 85 to 90% on the run, which could net her the win, certainly a podium. There is no reason not to drill the swim and bike, no damage there and a great brick workout day. That should put her well into the lead, and then she runs comfortably and just has a look see at what is coming from behind. I would say that since she is training for a really fast ITU 10k at the moment, she is a lot closer to Gentle than she was last time she beat her. SO that means she could actually back off a bit and still win the race, and at the same time not do any damage to her training plans.


And yes there are some really talented ladies in this field, but Gentle is the class and if you think you can beat here going 90% on the run, then probably you win the race..Its not any disrespect to the field, just the glaring difference in their abilities at the moment. 11 minute win at Oceanside on a day where it really looked like she took it easy on all the legs, well that is just another level performance.

nicola spirig says hi , she did a 70.,3 i think it was 2 weeks before she won london oly games it could have been 3 weeks and iam pretty sure she did the same before rio and was the only athelte that run with gwen at least for a good while.
more seriously why do you think it would be such a problem to race an over distance and why is it seen to be so detrimental to do an over distance, but nobody would be concerned if the athletes did a under distance . as long as you hold back a bit on the run and athlete has a decent volume in training there is no real issue and there can be benefits.
i would put it in the same category as doing 5 k track race , can be done . but not a must do .

i did not hear anybody say that leo bergere will explode in yokohama because he did valencia. and he pushed the bike and had a solid run 3 weeks before one of his A races.
i would agree if they would train specifically for a half that would be silly but to race an half with oly training is no issue at all, for most athletes. and at the end of the day one can be reasonably sure that taylor will not sit in, in paris on the bike. .... and neither will leo for that matter.
no need to discuss if they will get away but they will try and will try to keep the 2nd pack away or make them work really hard for it.

At least good enough to indicate that he can do a good relay leg. Think BT need him.
Yokohama has a few interesting stories, ie JB, Gwen and Hugo milner. Looking forward to it!

Guys, guys, guys… I see people talking about “holding back on the run”, measuring percentages. Guys! This woman went to Oceanside to validate her Taupo slot and won by 11 minutes. Did she hold back on the run there, leaving the second transition 12 minutes ahead? Seriously, she’ll “do a 90% run” with Gentle breathing down her neck?

It’s not just a brick session, either. It’s travel, stress, cold water, crashes, all that before a race in which Knibb (of all people) must be 100.000000% in order for either her or the U.S. to win a medal. You know - to me, as a fan, “Knibb won’t explode in Paris just because she did SF” doesn’t sound like all that exciting a prospect.

To me, it looks like a case of Taylor wanting to experience everything. The Olympic Games are an experience for her, just like Kona, and she knows she’s a long shot for a medal anyway, so screw it. Too bad for short course fans hoping she’d make waves in Paris.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Guys, guys, guys San Fran is freaking 7 weeks before Paris. Will have no impact on her Paris prep, she’ll probably train right through, take one easy day after and keep at it.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Knibb already validated Taupo with the win in Oceanside.

There is something in the selection criteria that says they need to show form, and the criteria for that is a top 6 (I think) in a 2024 WTCS before the end of May. Abu Dhabi was cancelled (and Pierre was not on the start list anyway if I remember well, giving credence to the 'injured' theory). He's not doing Yoko either, so his only chance to really stamp down his qualification is to place top 6 in Cagliari. Otherwise he may be subject to discretion against Leo and Vincent (and Dorian if he doesn't top 6 in either Yoko or Cagliari).

But maybe you know something else about their process?

i think he can also validate with a world cup result not sure what placing it was i think podium.

that was not correct
https://www.triathlon.org/..._national_federation

it was top 3 in a sprint world series race .

The policy says they have the show form in 2024 and establishes criteria for that. So an athlete can lock down the slot they AQ'd for (in 2023, applies to Coninx and Le Corre). If they don't FFT can then not select (selecting one of the other two in lieu) and still be following policy (I know no more than you, likely less). But if all the top 3 are fit then I'd be amazed if either Coninx or le Corre was dropped and, with his poor form in 2022/2023, even a fit Luis is at a disadvantage (vis a vis Bergere).
Finally, I expect the selectors to note that Bergere is the youngest (27) and sure to be the mainstay in LA28 (so he and the 2028 French team would benefit from him having Paris Olympics experience). If they choose the old man in his stead, I can see FFT losing Bergere to middle/long course racing immediately.

than you should complain about her going to yokahama, that is a lot more travel stress... with way more time zone changes . and chances to crash are way higher as well.

she has to weigh up... listen to the 1037th finisher in the fantasy league she has never met or her coach who is one of the better coaches in the sport with a vast experience in short and long distance triathlon. thats a tough one to decide...

First, I'm flattered by the fact that you remembered my exact placing in I-can't-remember-which fantasy game. (I have in fact improved since then - even made the upper half of the table at Fantasy Texas).

Second, Knibb knows what's best for her and she'll do exactly that. Her coach is there to help her meet her goals. Not USAT's, not mine. Hers.

Apparently you know exactly what her coach told her - surely, he told her to go ahead and race T100 San Francisco with zero impact on Olympic medal chances. But hey, that's just your opinion, man. We don't know what he told her.

It's entirely possible, and indeed I think it's the case, that winning an Olympic medal is just one of Knibb's priorities and it doesn't sit as high as I'd like it to. Your sarcasm is stupid, especially after I said "as a fan, I like/dislike this or that" a thousand times without trying to tell anybody what's best for Knibb.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

most likely they would have agreed on a frame work . just like it was clear that when he stared to coach LCB that they would go for short and long course.and if he had not been interested in it he would not have taken her on. while good coaching is athlete driven there needs to be some alignment. and dan does not have to take on an advertisement big name athlete....he only takes on athletes he is interested in.

again a middle distance can also have positive impact on olympic performance. and there is less time change travel stress and injury risk than the other 2 races she is entered in.

if i would question a race it would be yokohama, as yokohama cagliary boulder is a hell of a trip if you have the ticket to paris already.

she could drop cagliari and let Gwen in :P

Hahaha, good comment!
Doesn't Knibb have to "show fit" or verify (whatever is the correct terminology) her selection, by doing Yokohama

In pink?
Yes, after a success in Yokohama, it'd make sense to avoid the long travel to Cagliari. She needs to avoid revealing her tactics for Paris. That'd give her 4 weeks between Japan and T100 SF.
And though this decision will be 100% Knibb's, the side benefits for USAT/Jorgensen are self-evident (though I still think they'll sub out either Kasper or Rappaport for her).
Success in this T100 will be a necessary building block to a World Triathlon sanctioned World Champion title: not one she's likely to ever get anywhere else.

I don't think there's any chance of USAT to sub out someone for Gwen, otherwise they'd have done it from the start by subbing them out for Katie and avoid this nonsense.