The women’s field for the first-ever edition of the World Triathlon Championship Series Weihai might be a reduced one, but it is one filled with talent. No fewer than five Olympic medallists from Rio, Tokyo and Paris will be towing the start line this Friday, ready for an epic battle on the hills around Halfmoon Bay. Lisa Tertsch (GER), Beth Potter (GBR) and Laura Lindemann (GER) will all be looking for a first WTCS win this season, and hoping to catch up some points on the current Series leader, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) as top-tier racing returns to China for the first time since 2011.
With the current top two in the rankings, Beaugrand and teammate Emma Lombardi, absent this weekend, Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch arrive in Weihai as the highest ranked women.
A medal of any colour for either will take them past Lombardi in the standings, however Beaugrand’s three wins already in 2024 mean that she will remain the WTCS rankings leader after this weekend heading to the women’s Championship Final on 19 October. If either Potter or Tertsch hope to win the world title this year, though, it will be imperative to eat into as much of Beaugrand’s lead as possible, so anything less than gold will increase the French athlete’s chances of ultimate glory.
Tertsch fresh from Valencia victory
Tertsch will be wearing the number 1 this weekend, and Germany’s Mixed Relay Olympic champion arrives in China in excellent form after the Olympics, including three weeks of solid preparations for the last part of the season. A strong athlete over the three disciplines, the German knows that the tough Weihai course should suit her well, and is hoping to show the same running form as she did at the Valencia World Cup two weeks ago and get some valuable points that will push her up the rankings.
Tertsch has in fact outrun Beth Potter in two World Triathlon Championship Series this season, Cagliari and Hamburg, and is confident that she can do it again in Weihai. Potter has based the preparations for her return on the blue carpet on the hills around Leeds to get ready for the eight laps, and eight hills, of this new bike course.
The Brit will be leading an extremely strong GB squad, with Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh also lining up on Halfmoon Bay this Friday, all three with a great opportunity to boost their Series rankings ahead of next month’s Championship Finals Torremolinos.
GTB back on song
Taylor-Brown is currently only ranked 11th overall after 6th place finishes in Cagliari and Paris, but she is the top-ranked woman to only have two scoring races so far in 2024. The 2020 World Champion could therefore vault herself into an overall podium position with a win in Weihai. Given Taylor-Brown’s glittering history of WTCS golds, and her remarkable ability acrosse swim, bike and run, it would be a bold person that would discount her from making the podium this weekend.
For her part, Kate Waugh will have wanted more from that Olympic debut and a second full WTCS season that has not been as successful as she hoped. Being one of the strongest bikers of the circuit, she will be ready to show her power and control both on the uphill and the descents.
German team on the up and up
If there’s a team that is bringing all their power to Weihai is indeed the Germans, with seven women racing this Friday. WTCS medallists Laura Lindemann - also an Olympic Mixed Relay champion -, Annika Koch and Lena Meißner will be starting, as will the reigning World U23 champion Selina Klamt, rising star Tanja Neubert and Tokyo Olympian Anabel Knoll.
Another one that will be ready to get stuck into the hard bike course will be Luxemburg’s Jeanne Lehair, especially after a crash left her out of the race at the Paris Olympics, but she has been on the podium of every race she has started in the last month, and is ready to take up the challenge in Weihai.
Jorgensen and Kasper fly USA flag
Off the back of that 40km bike, it could be difficult for the class runners on the field to make up the gap, but those who still could potentially do it would be the likes of Gwen Jorgensen (USA), Kirsten Kasper (USA), Rosa Tapia (MEX) or Anna Godoy (ESP).
Raring for some top-tier racing at home, Xinyu Lin will lead the women’s Chinese team. Already a qualifier for the Paris Olympics, Lin is one of the youngest athletes in the field. She will be joined by Yifan Yang and it would be no surprise to see Yang be among the first to exit the swim.
