Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification on the Line for U.S. Elite Triathletes in Yokohama

May 6, 2024

Elite, elite paratriathlon races set for May 11 at World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo./ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – U.S. elite triathletes will compete for U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team selections on Saturday, May 11 at the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama. The women’s and men’s races are the final opportunity for U.S. elite triathletes to auto-qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

In addition to the individual elite competitions, the event in Yokohama also includes paratriathlon racing in the 2024 World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama.

SCHEDULE

The elite para race on Saturday, May 11 begins at 6:50 a.m. local time (5:50 p.m. ET, Friday, May 10).

The elite women race at 10:15 a.m. local time on Saturday, May 11 (9:15 p.m. ET, Friday, May 10).

The elite men race at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday, May 11 (midnight ET, Friday, May 10).

HOW TO WATCH 
Races in Yokohama will be available live and on demand on TriathlonLIVE.tv.

OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION AT WORLD TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES YOKOHAMA

The elite races in Yokohama are the final opportunity for U.S. elite triathletes to auto-qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The first U.S. male and female athlete — who has not already qualified — to finish among the top-three will auto-qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Only one spot for each gender for the U.S. men and women is available for auto-qualification at Yokohama.

Two U.S. athletes have already qualified for Paris 2024: Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson, who each qualified for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team at the 2023 World Triathlon Paris Test Event last August.

The U.S. is expected to field a U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team of three women and two men.

Following Yokohama, remaining team spots will be filled by the Olympic Games Athlete Selection Panel via Discretionary Selection. All Olympic Team nominations are pending final approval by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The full U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team will be announced in June. Read here for more information about U.S. qualification procedures for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Five U.S. women will race in Yokohama.

Taylor Spivey (Manhattan Beach, Calif) comes to Yokohama as the top-ranked U.S. elite triathlete, ranked No. 4 in the World Triathlon rankings. She had two podium finishes during the 2023 season — with bronze medals in Abu Dhabi and Cagliari. She also finished fourth in Yokohama.

Tokyo 2020 Olympians Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.) and Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.) come to Yokohama ranked 15th and 16th, with Knibb already qualified for Paris 2024. Rappaport’s top finish last year was a bronze in Montreal. It was in Yokohama in 2021 when Knibb had a breakthrough performance, winning gold and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the youngest U.S. triathlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team at 23 years old. At the Tokyo Olympics, Knibb won a silver medal in the Mixed Relay.

Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.) and Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.) round out the U.S. women contingent in Yokohama. Kasper, currently ranked 19th, most recently earned bronze at the World Triathlon Cup Hong Kong in March, while Jorgensen comes to Yokohama with a recent bronze at the World Triathlon Indoor Cup Lievin in March.

Jorgensen, who won Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics, returned to the sport of triathlon in late 2022 with the goal of making her third Olympic team. She has risen up the World Triathlon rankings to No. 24, turning in a streak of podium performances last fall at World Triathlon Cup events.

Five U.S. men will race in Yokohama, including Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.) and Darr Smith (Atlanta, Ga.).

A Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist in the Mixed Relay, Pearson has already qualified for Paris 2024 and in March won the Americas Triathlon Championships in Miami. McElroy represented the U.S. in November at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, earning silver.

Rider also represented the U.S. at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, placing fifth. A Tokyo 2020 Olympian, McDowell comes to Yokohama with a recent 14th-place finish at the World Triathlon Cup Hong Kong in March. He was a member of the silver-medal winning U.S. Mixed Relay team in Tokyo and finished sixth in the individual race, the best finish for a U.S. male triathlete at the Olympics.

Smith started his 2024 season with a pair of silver medal performances at the Americas Triathlon Cup La Habana and Americas Triathlon Championships Miami, followed by a seventh-place finish at the World Triathlon Cup Hong Kong.

The full start lists in Yokohama can be found here.

WORLD TRIATHLON PARA SERIES YOKOHAMA 

U.S. elite paratriathletes will race in Yokohama for World Triathlon rankings points and early-season tune up ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in September.

Twelve U.S. elite paratriathletes are set to race in Yokohama, including Paralympians Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill.), Hailey Danz (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Chris Hammer (Gilbert, Ariz.), Mark Barr (Davis, Calif.), Kelly Elmlinger (San Antonio, Texas), Kyle Coon (Colorado Springs, Colo.), with guide Zack Goodman (San Diego, Calif.), and Eric McElvenny (Pittsburgh, Pa.).

Also racing include Project Podium athlete Owen Cravens (Algonquin, Ill.) with guide Ben Hoffman (Tucson, Ariz.), Carson Clough (Charlotte, N.C.), Emma Meyers (Pensacola, Fla.) Emelia Perry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Rachel Watts (St. Joseph, Mo.).

Ten U.S. elite paratriathletes have already qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, including Barr, Clough, Cravens, Danz, Elmlinger, Gretsch, Mohamed Lahna, Grace Norman, Howie Sanborn and Melissa Stockwell. Athletes who have not yet qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will race for important rankings points in Yokohama.

The rest of the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team will be selected and named later this summer. For more information about the qualification and selection procedures for the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team, please read here.

Full start lists for Yokohama can be found here. 

About USA Triathlon

USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 3,500 events and races and connects with and supports more than 300,000 unique active members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

– usatriathlon.org –