Team GB triathlon’s squad for Paris 2024 is shaping up as its best ever for an Olympics, its performance director has predicted, after naming world champion Beth Potter and Tokyo 2020 gold and silver medallist Alex Yee as his first two names on the train to France.
Mike Cavendish flagged Potter and Yee, who won their Olympic test events in Paris this summer, as having outstanding chances for gold and said he had high hopes in the mixed relay too. But he stressed that the battle for the remaining places also included other potential medal winners as well.
They include Jonny Brownlee, who is hoping to come back from an injury-hit 2023 to win his fourth Olympic medal. While the fight for the other two places in the women’s team looks to be between Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sophie Caldwell and Kate Waugh, who are all in the world’s top 10.
Asked if this could be the best Team GB triathlon squad ever, Cavendish replied: “Absolutely, yes. I would be surprised if we’re not taking three women who all very much have a shout of winning a medal. Alex Yee clearly has that for the men. And while Jonny Brownlee has not had the year he hoped this year, he knows how to get it right when it matters. So he will absolutely be seeing himself in that boat too.
“So I’d be disappointed if we’re not looking at medals in all three events, and then potentially more on top of that if things go perfectly,” he added.
It will be the second Olympics for Potter, who represented Team GB at Rio 2016 in the 10,000m before switching to triathlon seven years ago. At first Potter had little sponsorship or funding, but after steadily improving she has established herself as the world No 1.
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“I just try to tell myself that I’m tougher than everyone else,” she said. “It’s about who can hang in there the longest and who can tough it out on top for the longest. And I feel like I’m quite good at that.”
Asked about why she had switched, Potter added: “I love winning, and I didn’t want to just take part. I want to be on the top step. I want to be on the podium. And I just didn’t think it was possible on the track.”
Meanwhile the 25-year-old Yee, who won individual silver in Tokyo as well as gold in the mixed relay, knows he will be seen as the favourite in Paris having run away with the test event in the summer.
“I definitely feel much more of a mature and complete athlete than I did in 2021,” he said. “I definitely feel like I’ve improved and hopefully that can lead to me racing even better in Paris.
“I have great confidence in myself. And now I’ve been to the test event and raced so well on the course, hopefully I can do it again. I know what it takes to be successful there. I will throw the kitchen sink at it.”