Packing in 122 athletes, 34 nations, up to seven point-scoring events, one Olympic Games and a bagful of fireworks, the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series was one of the most un-put-downable title races of recent times.
The Olympic year began with all kinds of priority and focus shifts for the biggest names in the sport. Points would be available at four Series races plus the Championship Finals Torremolinos, the Games and the Continental Championships. But priorities had to be balanced between world title challenges and the plentiful pressures of Paris 2024 form and qualification.
Nature didn’t help.
Season plans placed on hold
On 8th March, extreme storms in and around the UAE region forced the cancellation of the eagerly awaited WTCS Abu Dhabi season opener. Athletes and teams were left to ponder the two-month window until WTCS Yokohama, searching for the races that could provide those essential early season hit-outs. Weihai, China, was confirmed to make the step up from World Cup to WTCS in September and became the fourth stop in the Series.
High drama in Yokohama
When 11 May finally came around, the anticipation for WTCS Yokohama was at fever pitch, even without Yee and Wilde on the start list as they honed their Paris prep elsewhere. Dorian Coninx got his title defence underway and he, Bergere, Pierre Le Corre and Vincent Luis were all vying for the three starts available at a very special home Olympics.
When a huge bike pack merged and hit the final lap, the pressure fully popped, Coninx, Bergere and Vasco Vilaça among the names to come down, many more caught up and slowed down to avoid the chaos.
The biggest casualty was indeed Coninx, leaving Japan with a broken wrist and elbow. Up ahead it was Morgan Pearson who ran to the gold with a 29:11 split for the 10km, holding off Matthew Hauser and Luke Willian in second and third to take the first 1000 points of the year, Bergere battling back to fourth, Luis in ninth.
Yee back at home in Cagliari
Quickly, it was on to WTCS Cagliari, the final Series race of the Olympic Qualification window and the return to the frontline of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde. Both delivered eye-catching swims to be right in contention from the outset, and both delivered the kind of run battle that has become their calling card.
Cat-and-mouse for the full 10km, it was Yee that had the final surge left in him to take the tape, a move that would leave Wilde no doubt as to what was required for the rest of the year if he was to find an Olympic or World title. Behind them, a first Series medal for Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann while Morgan Pearson followed his Yokohama win with 40th. Series wide open.
Assured Aussie in Hamburg
Onto Hamburg, just two weeks out from the Paris showdown, and still many of the big guns came out. It was, however, Luke Willian wearing the number one after his third and ninth places, but a fellow Australian would leave with the gold.
Matt Hauser was the man back on top of the Series podium, picking up 750 points thanks to a lightning 5km run to pip Vasco Vilaça. It was Pierre Le Corre with bronze, all three taking with them a timely boost to their Olympic hopes and, in the case of Hauser, the top spot in the Series rankings.
Paris calling
Those rankings meant little in the pressure cooker of Paris, however. The in-depth Olympic rewind will follow, suffice to say the swim blew the race wide open before it all came back together with a spectacular finale between the two biggest names in the sport.
After a gruelling 40km bike, it was Alex Yee who took to the front before Hayden Wilde seared clear, opening up some 15 seconds over his rival, only to see the advantage dissolve over the final 500m. It was Yee onto the bridge first and taking the tape in disbelief, Olympic gold and 1,000 series points his, Wilde second with Bergere giving the home crowd the medal they craved.
Weihai delivers the goods
The challenging bike of WTCS Weihai was getting plenty of attention in the run in to the city’s first Series weekend, and it was again Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde grabbing the headlines at the end of September.
The Brit broke clear on the bike and never looked back. Just as Wilde lost his usual power, his hopes for the world title seemingly fading as he had to dig in and run his way to seventh. Leo Bergere's silver propelled him into second overall, Brazil's Miguel Hidalgo with the bronze and a first Series podium.
Yee steps up in a Finals flourish
As such, it was Alex Yee heading in to the Championship Finals Torremolinos as the number one and knowing that a top six finish would see him finally able to take a world title he had run so close for the previous three years.
Bergere and Wilde were his nearest competitors, and the race was blown open on the first bike lap when Hauser went over his handlebars, allowing Wilde, Bergere and Luis to break free along with Simon Westermann and Tayler Reid.
Suddenly there was doubt once again hanging over Yee’s title prospects, the gap going out across the 40km bike and then Wilde hammered home the advantage on the run, but Yee banished any lurking doubts with a typically assured 10km that took him all the way to bronze to become 2024 World Triathlon Champion.
“This has evaded me for the last three years and makes it even sweeter,” said a delighted Yee. “It is probably something that has haunted me day in day out and I wanted to put on a show and a smile on peoples’ faces and I’m World Champion. There’s always going to be pressure in these races… but pressure makes diamonds.”
Watch back the 2024 WTCS Season on TriathlonLive.tv
