Olympic Dreams & Iconic Showdown

Olympic Dreams & Iconic Showdown

This week we have seen many Olympic selections take place, shaping the careers of athletes chasing their Olympic dream. For some their journey will continue in short course, for others their focus shifts. Many athletes will turn their attention to long course. In the past it could be said that long course racing was the poor cousin to the Olympic distance, however with greater media attention, prize money and interest, largely driven by organisations such as the PTO, Challenge and Ironman, long course triathlon is booming.

This weekend we see arguably the two greatest short course male athletes reunite their rivalry at one of the most iconic venues in triathlon, Alistair Brownlee (GBR) and Javier Gomez (ESP). Gomez, who has been off the triathlon scene in the last few years with injuries, makes his T100 debut at San Francisco, whilst Brownlee comes back to the T100 with renewed ambitions to take his first win in the series. A series he has shaped with his aggressive style of racing. 

The rest of the men's field is more than impressive. It features World #1 Sam Long (USA), who, in recent outings on the T100 Tour has made his way from the very back of the field to the front over the 100km format. Magnus Ditlev (DEN) is back from injury, the winner at T100 Miami will be looking to re-establish himself as number 1. There is a whole host of others in contention including Jason West (USA) and World Record holder over the half-distance event, but also newcomer to the T100 Tour; Marten Van Reil. HUUB's David McNamee (GBR) and Frederic Funk (GER) will both be looking for a first T100 podium. We will be sure to see some fast and aggressive racing!

The women's field is equally impressive and is set to be the most competitive we have seen so far on the Tour. The Queens of this distance are set for another head-to-head; HUUB's Anne Haug (GER) comes in off a dominant victory at Lanzarote Ironman, showing she has put illness behind her. Whilst Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) will be looking to continue her fine run of form and retain her World #1 ranking. However, there are many others that will set the race alight, non more so than Taylor Knibb (USA), who is currently World ranked #2, but is also set to compete at the Paris Olympics in the Triathlon event and also the Individual road TT. Her biking prowess will certainly shape the outcome of the race.

Also, ones to look out for are Daniela Ryf (SUI), the most decorated long course athlete across both men's and women's races, as well as HUUB's Kat Matthews (GBR) and Indie Lee (GBR), who was winner back at T100 Miami, her victory at The Challenge Championships showed she has put issues she faced at Singapore behind her.

The races take place on Saturday 8 June, with the professional men kicking off proceedings at 06:00 local time (14:00 in the UK and 15:00 in Central Europe).