The 2024 Chengdu World Cup was the first official event of the year for Team World Triathlon, the development squad for athletes from smaller national federations to help them realise their Olympic potential.
Six athletes were selected for the event, receiving travel support and covering on-site expenses such as accommodation, plus dedicated technical and coaching support. Bermuda’s Erica Hawley and Tyler Smith, Slovakia’s Zuzana Michalickova and Romana Gajdosova, Ukraine’s Vitalii Vorontsov and Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto of Colombia headed to China under the guidance of Rolf Ebeling and Vincent Beltran.
Of those six, three of the athletes were graduates from the 2014 Youth Olympic Games exactly one decade prior, also in China. Smith, Hawley and Velasquez competed in the individual and mixed relay events at Nanjing 2014, and were back in the country chasing their Olympic dreams and a start at Paris 2024.
It was Michalickova with the best result of the day on the women’s side, finishing 13th one place ahead of Hawley, Gajdosova in 23rd. The unlucky Velasquez had to pull up on the run from a strong position after suffering stomach issues.
On the men’s side, Smith’s hard work on the bike may have taken its toll on the run, but he pushed on for 24th place after Vorontsov was forced to retire from the race. Another member of the team but who received support from his federation and was therefore not part of the squad, Badr Siwane (MAR), finished 30th.
The result leaves Smith in 111th in the Olympic rankings, with a Tripartite Invitation still a possible route to a start in Paris. Velasquez remains on course to be Colombia’s first female Olympic triathlete since Fiorella D’Croz at Athens 2004, and Hawley is currently ranked within the qualification zone. Michalickova and Gajdosova, chase a similar goal or the New Flag slot along with compatriot Ivana Kuriackova.
The team moves on to Uzbekistan for the last weekend of World Cup racing before the qualification period ends, and it will be all in at the Samarkand World Cup on Saturday 18 May. You can watch all the action unfold and follow the World Triathlon Team’s fortunes over on TriathlonLive.tv.
