Alex Yee and Beth Potter part of Team GB triathlon team at Olympics
Alex Yee and Beth Potter already knew they would be selected for Team GB in the triathlon but now three other athletes have learnt they will make the trip to the French capital as well.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, Kate Waugh and Sam Dickinson will join both Yee and Potter, who were announced in November at the Olympics.
Each of the five athletes have strong athletics connections. Yee boasts a personal 10,000m best of 27:51.94 from 2018, Potter ran an unofficial world 5km record of 14:41 in 2021 and Taylor-Brown has represented Britain at the European Cross Country Championships and won national cross-country titles. Yee, Potter and Taylor-Brown have all featured on the cover of AW in the past, too.
Waugh and Dickinson have also competed at the British Cross Challenge at various stages of their careers.
The five-athlete triathlon team will have a lot to live up to, given Great Britain has won more triathlon medals than any other nation since the sport was introduced to the Olympics at Sydney 2000.
There is no place for Jonathan Brownlee in the Olympic triathlon team, meaning that one of the Brownlee brothers won't be taking part at the Games for the first time since Athens 2004.
"I have not been selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," Brownlee stated on Instagram. "The Tokyo mixed team relay was one of the many highlights of my career and I still believe I could have helped Team GB win another medal in Paris. I will be supporting the team in whatever way I can and really hope they go on to defend the title!
"I have achieved more than I could ever have imagined in my Olympic career. After 99 world triathlon starts, 52 podiums and three Olympic medals, it’s not the fairytale ending that I’d wished for but Paris was always a bonus and it can be the unwritten chapter of an incredible book! I have a great summer to look forward to and some exciting racing ahead."
Another glaring omission is that of Sophie Coldwell, who was part of the England mixed relay team that won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Coldwell, who finished seventh and ahead of Waugh at the World Triathlon Championships Series Cagliari in May – a race that British Triathlon designated as "priority" for Olympic qualification – has stated "she's angry" at her federation.
“Firstly I want to say congratulations to everyone who’s qualified for the games, I wish you the best of luck for the summer," Coldwell said on Instagram. "But for me, I’m disappointed, l’m sad but above all I’m angry at my federation.
"After the original selection was made, it became clear that I needed to appeal, so with the help of those closest to me and my lawyers the appeal was submitted. We then found out that we won the appeal and the arbitrator approved it on the grounds of ‘failing to follow the selection policy.'”
"The panel failed to prioritise and accordingly weight their priority event, Cagliari. And, although it couldn't be approved on the grounds of bias, it was commented that there was some unfair and bias comments throughout the selection process."
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Coldwell continued: "The panel would have to meet again, to redo selection and use their policy properly. I knew it would be an uphill battle to get them to admit they had made a mistake, but I thought a fair and competent panel would get it right. But no, still not enough.
"After spending the last two years doing everything possible to make that team, I thought I had ticked the boxes the federation asked of me and I believed I'd done enough. I didn't want to be in this position, feeling let down by my federation by their process and inability to follow selection policy."
"It's been an awful couple of weeks but I want to make sure that those who follow me in the future won't ever be in this same position."
In response, British Triathlon performance director and Team GB triathlon lead, Mike Cavendish, said: "Throughout the process, realistic potential for winning medals was at the fore, and it’s with this in mind we welcome Georgia, Kate and Sam to join the already announced Beth Potter and Alex Yee. This was an incredibly hard selection process."
Following on from Coldwell's statement, British Triathlon added: "The 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Cagliari was stated as a priority race on which decisions could be made as part of the selection policy, however it was not a qualification race to determine selection.
"Whilst the performances and results from this race were part of the discussions during the selection meeting and given the additional weight that its priority status requires, there was no distinct difference that could be made between athletes on this race alone.
"Therefore, the full range of criteria were discussed in coming to the final selection decisions."
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