- #88 - VINCENT LUIS
Reunited full-time with his coach Joel Filiol, back on extended training camps with nothing more to think about than form and focus, the enormous carrot of a home Olympics now just five months away, the two-time World Champion Vincent Luis is ready to pounce on every opportunity 2024 sends his way.
Dialling in at the end of four weeks in Lanzarote and ready for the season opener in Abu Dhabi, Luis is open about the likelihood of this being his last full season of short course racing. The blue carpet will undoubtedly miss one of the greats but, as the 34-year-old reflects on his career on the latest episode of the World Triathlon Podcast, the feeling will be mutual.
Before any discussion of retirement can begin, there is a season for the ages ahead of him. Injury may have seen him a mere spectator as teammates Dorian Coninx, Leo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre hoovered up the prizes in 2023, but the experience has also left him hungry. Three spots available, four world-class athletes competing for them, one huge decision ahead for the selectors. All Luis wants to do is produce the results that mean, purely based on form, he can still be one of them.
1h 1m - Feb 29, 2024 - #87 Dylan Mccullough - Triathlon New Zealand
Standing at #32 in the Olympic Rankings at the start of 2024, Kiwi Dylan McCullough looks set to join Hayden Wilde on the New Zealand team for Paris 2024 if he can continue the form he produced in 2023. He talks team tactics for the big races, becoming Youth Olympic Champion and going face to face with Justin Bieber.
S4 - 41m - Jan 19, 2024 - #86 BREAKTHROUGHS OF '23: MARTA KROPKO
We continue our look back at some of the names breaking out in 2023 and with ambitions set fully on Paris in the company of Hungary’s exciting talent Marta Kropko.
Still only 20 years old, this season saw Marta cement her place in the Hungarian Mixed Relay squad after what was a tough debut in Leeds in 2022, this time helping the team to 5th place at the World Championships in Hamburg, 3rd at the European Games Krakow and now suddenly eyeing an Olympic qualification spot that would guarantee two men and two women on the Paris start lines.
The U23 Aquathlon World Champion after winning in Ibiza, Marta scored a first World Cup top 10 in Weihai in August and is now hunting a first WTCS start in 2024, all fitting around an Economics degree in which she is in her third year at Budapest University.
S4 - 42m - Nov 29, 2023 - #85 BREAKTHROUGHS OF '23: CATHIA SCHAR
With a huge Olympic year ahead it is the perfect time to look back at some of the younger names that made an impact in 2023 and suddenly have Olympic places in their sights.
We get underway with 22-year-old Cathia Schar, who anchored the Swiss Team to Mixed Relay World Championship bronze in Hamburg, took 4th place in the U23 World Championships Pontevedra and then crushed her first World Cup podium with bronze in Rome.
Currently 33rd in the Olympic Rankings, Paris 2024 is suddenly a very real prospect for both the individual and mixed relay, so we get to grips with the journey there, overcoming self-doubt and proclivity for a party to emerge from the COVID years as a new force in Swiss triathlon.
S3 - 40m - Nov 24, 2023 - #84 HUGO MILNER
OLYMPIC-SIZED AMBITION
He has only been in the sport for two years, but at 6'4" tall and with his first World Cup win already secured in Miyazaki, could Hugo Milner be the Next Big Thing in British Triathlon? He honed his run skills in Harvard, his swimming in Nottingham and his bike handling in Derby, and it looks like the fist test of a WTCS start line could be heading his way in 2024.
45m - Nov 2, 2023 - #83 D O R I A N _ C O N I N X | 2023 World Champion
In 2013, Dorian Coninx became Junior World Champion in London, beating two rising British talents on their own patch. A decade later, the Frenchman went into the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Finals as a long-shot title prospect, fifth in the rankings, the much-fancied Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde among those ahead of him. Once again, the underdog title suited him down to the ground, but now Coninx must prepare for a home Olympics in Paris next year as the new World Champion and the name on everyone's lips. He has learned and matured enormously since the dark days of his Rio 2016 campaign, but how will the 29-year-old cope with going into Paris as a favourite?
1h 5m - Oct 24, 2023 - #82 B E T H _ P O T T E R | 2023 World Champion
In September, Great Britain's Beth Potter capped a phenomenal year with a World Championship-winning display in Pontevedra. With her 2024 Olympic Games place now also booked thanks to that title and victory in the Test Event, Potter now has the freedom to plan her perfect Paris build up. Tune in for a revealing 45 minutes in her company as she dissects life on and off the blue carpet, including pre-race insomnia, post-race elation and how she plotted her way past Cassandre Beaugrand to become world champ at the 2023 Championship Finals.
43m - Oct 9, 2023 - #81 WTCS Hamburg recap: Lauren Fisher Crossfit legend
Could Vincent Luis be a CrossFit Champion? Who are the ultimate athletes - triathletes or CrossFitters? Could you row a marathon?
Hailing from San Diego, California, Lauren Fisher is a 7 x CrossFit Games athlete and former Junior national weightlifting champion in the US who tuned in to the world of CrossFit from a young age initially to help with her basketball training. The multi-dimensional fitness competitions soon took over as her sport of choice, however, and after a decade competing at the top level, she now also runs her own signature fitness programmes and retreats for those looking for a slice of the Lauren lifestyle. Lauren hit her first Olympic distance triathlon in Hamburg's open races and thinks there could be more crossover potential between the sports.
Listeners can receive a 50% discount for Lauren's Grown Strong fitness programme for women using the code worldtriathlon
S4 - 29m - Jul 27, 2023 - #80 WTCS Hamburg recap pt.2: Will McCloy
Will McCloy is best know to triathlon fans as the commentary voice behind the Arena Games and Super League, for whom he has been calling races for over five years. The Australian took a first dip into Age Group World Championship racing in Hamburg in mid-July, where he puked, fought walls and raced actual former elite champions. McCloy reveals the importance of testing himself, the power of preparation and the potent competition to be found among middle-aged men on an AG triathlon start line.
S4 - 46m - Jul 26, 2023 - #79 WTCS Hamburg recap pt.1 : Rasmus Henning
Rasmus Henning (DEN)
Two-time top 10 Olympic triathlete ✅ Multiple World Cup and Ironman winner ✅ One of Denmark’s most successful triathletes of all time ✅
Back in 2010 he joined an elite club of male athletes to complete a sub-8hour Ironman and posted one of the fastest ever times at Challenge Roth, a four-time Kona vet, he could most recently be seen rolling back the years and tearing up the course at the WTCS Hamburg Age Group Sprint World Championships, winning silver in the 45-49 category. He is also the CEO and performance director of Triathlon Denmark after recently working with the Danish Olympic Committee.
Denmark's triathlon titan Rasmus Henning found his competitive edge was as sharp as ever as he returned to the blue carpet in Hamburg. After picking up silver at the AG World Championships as legends like Daniel Unger and Stuart Hayes took to the opportunity to get back to competition, the Great Dane relives the Hamburg magic, the unique tussles of the $200,000 Hy-Vee race and missing out on winning a Hummer.
S4 - 47m - Jul 26, 2023 - #78 - WTCS Montreal preview with Non Stanford and Tommy Zaferes
We take a look ahead to the fourth stop on the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series - WTCS Montreal - with former World Champion Non Stanford and Tommy Zaferes, to figure out just where the race can be won and lost - and by whom. The chase for World Championship points continues over a demanding sprint-distance course, Vasco Vilaça of Portugal and USA's Taylor Spivey wear the golden #1 and look to continue their chase for the 2023 world titles.
S4 - 57m - Jun 22, 2023 - #77 Jeanne Lehair
After switching from representing the tricolor of France to the tri-suit of Luxembourg in 2022, Jeanne Lehair has been in the form of her life, seizing the new opportunities that have come her way to post career-best Series finishes and become the Triathlon Champion of Europe. She gives us the lowdown on squaring off that difficult decision to switch ahead of Paris 2024, the battle in Madrid and her targets for the rest of what is already a season for the ages.
You can watch her race in June's French Grand Prix and WTCS Montreal over on TriathlonLive.tv.
S4 - 1h 0m - Jun 16, 2023 - #76 Pierre et Mignon - Long Distance World Champ duo
A four-month goal achieved together - France's Marjolaine Pierre and Clement Mignon took Ibiza by storm as they won the 2023 World Triathlon Long Distance Championships in May. Taking the tape just minutes apart, it was an iconic finish to two outstanding races by the couple that have been together since racing the Junior National Championships back in 2018. That was the end of a long and difficult road for both of them, but now the ambitions are turning to Nice and Kona.
57m - Jun 1, 2023 - #75 The Vasco Vilaça episode
Portugal's Vasco Vilaça heads to WTCS Cagliari as the world number one after an electrifying start to the 2023 season saw back-to-back podiums in Abu Dhabi and Yokohama. We catch up with him and World Triathlon photographer Tommy Zaferes from his base in Sardinia to find out what makes him tick on and off the blue carpet and who is the FIFA king of the JFT training crew.
episode notes
02'50 - FIFA wars - Vilaça vs Geens vs Bicsak
08'50 - Natalie Van Coevorden - passenger imposter
11'50 - Swim cap crying - losing the coveted no.1 cap
15'35 - WTCS Yokohama rewind - cramping capers, Hauser pounces
20'10 - Battling the waves in Cagliari - tips from a former lifesaver
31'40 - Sprint finishers - who you got, Coninx or Bergere, Wilde or Yee?
34'35 - Eagle versus Falcon
25'20 - Race no.1: passing the time on the starting line
38'00 - Pre-race nerves and the power of the nap
43'00 - Abstinence among athletes
45'30 - Fantasy Triathlon League: Tommy kiss of death obstri.com/fantasy
51'50 - What's next in 2023 and Paris 2024 plans
59m - May 23, 2023 - #74 The Erika Ackerlund episode
The USA's Erika Ackerlund spoke out recently about the paralysing nerves she felt at the start of the 2022 season, and where the pressure she had unwittingly placed on herself had put her mental health. The 26-year-old reveals what helped her through it, and how she hopes to channel her nervous energy into something positive in 2023.
S4 - 47m - Apr 4, 2023 - #73 Hans Christian Tungesvik: Winter Tri Champion episode
Hans Christian Tungesvik has played his own part in Norway's triathlon explosion in recent years, an Ironman and Norseman champion who made the switch to Winter Triathlon in 2021 in triumphant fashion, winning individual and relay golds on his championship debut. With the 2023 World Championships being held in his native Skeikampen, we catch up with one of the favourites for this year's title and hear just what it takes to become an extreme tri world champion, and how Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden have reshaped Norway's triathlon landscape.
45m - Mar 22, 2023 - #72 The Leo Bergere World Champion Episode
It was one of the most gripping climaxes to a season possible as a dramatic final 500m of the men's 2022 World Triathlon Championship Finals saw Leo Bergere eventually emerge with gold and the world title at the end of a hard-fought campaign. Ahead of his return to the desert for the 2023 season opener, we caught up with Bergere in Girona to hear how he finally got the better of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde and what makes the French squad such aa force to be reckoned with heading in to the new year of racing.
Watch WTCS Abu Dhabi on 3 March on TriathlonLive.tv
S4 - 22m - Feb 22, 2023 - ≠71 The Vincent Luis Bonus Episode
With the start of the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series just around the corner, World Triathlon met up with Vincent Luis in the Girona hills where he lives and trains. This bonus episode is a short excerpt from the full interview with the two-time World Champion, and will be available to watch soon exclusively on TriathlonLive.tv along with all of the new season's action from the blue carpet.
Stand by for the season launch on 17 February.
S4 - 11m - Feb 13, 2023 - #70 The Gwen Jorgensen episode
In mid-December, the word was finally out - Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Gwen Jorgensen was coming back to World Triathlon racing in 2023. A seven-year break from the blue carpet, two children and some serious marathon running since she hung up her tri-suit, one of the best of all time is back and eyeing a spot on the USA Mixed Relay squad for Paris 2024. Hear how it all came about and why on the latest episode of the World Triathlon Podcast.
S3 - 34m - Feb 3, 2023 - #69 The Maya Kingma episode
Netherlands' Maya Kingma kicks off the new season of World Triathlon podcasts, the rising talent who fought through the pain barrier at the end of 2022 to help determine the outcome of WTCS Bermuda, was caught up in a bike crash in Abu Dhabi, and is looking to ease into the new year fully fit and ready to consistently hit the heights she has shown over the past two campaigns. After a little glitz at the first ever Global Triathlon Awards!
S3 - 54m - Jan 27, 2023
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