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We are seeing with our own eyes one era in triathlon coming to an end and a new one beginning.
What we are witnessing is the transition of that Gomez-Brownlee era and the move to Yee-Wilde.
The heir apparent, the Olympic and World champion Kristian Blummenfelt, has moved up in distance and that has left a big hole.
Alex and Hayden have stepped in and taken it up a level. Their racing has been incredible.
Alex came on board at Super League last year off the back of the Olympics and I think we saw some of his best racing of 2021. He really evolved and now he has gone up another level again.
I don’t give kudos to Super League, but I think this new rivalry was really built off the back of Super League. We got the opportunity to see Hayden grow up as an athlete off the back of our Series and he built a lot of skills and confidence out of the week in and week out racing of Super League.
He has transferred that into World Triathlon racing now. It’s aggressive. Don’t wait for anyone. No tactical racing, just go hard. That makes him exciting.
He is up against Yee, who really is the new standard, the new Brownlee.
I think that rivalry has years to it, but I also hope Blummenfelt comes back and throws a spanner in the works. I just wonder how much top end pace those marathons take off. There is a lot of science behind what he does, but you wear them. He does at least have age on his side.
There is also the emergence of Matt Hauser. He is the only Australian that opted to stay in Super League racing throughout the last few years and I have always believed this style of racing would develop the next wave of talent, and you would see a stark difference between those who race Super League and those who don’t and he is proof of that.
When I watched the women’s race in the Commonwealth Games, the biggest difference I saw was sheer experience with Flora Duffy overcoming Georgia Taylor-Brown.
Flora’s a veteran racer, her transitions were on point and she has this presence about her as Olympic and Commonwealth champion, having been to four Olympic Games, three time World Champion and Xtrerra champion.
There is an immense amount of respect for her and she races like a true professional in every way. It’s not that Georgia doesn’t, but she has a bit of youthful exuberance still in her racing, but it’s business for Flora. Every single decision in that event was made from that perspective.
Georgia is a Flora Duffy of the future. She has all the arsenal to build off her strengths.
To me, Georgia is like Hamish Carter, who won the 2004 Olympics and was one of the best athletes to do this sport.
He was the most beautiful swimmer, biker and runner you’ve ever seen. That’s how I see Georgia. It almost looks effortless. Hamish was the same. It looked like he was jogging.
The issue for those athletes is they get outmuscled sometimes. They get a lot of silver medals, which makes them consistent but vulnerable to being outkicked or outplayed by a more brutal athlete.
Georgia just needs to grow into her stardom to a degree. She’s the best in the world and that comes with expectation. She knows this, but there’s an aura she needs to develop.
Flora’s presence was so strong you could feel it and she knows how to use momentum. She is remarkable.
I also think Beth Potter will be a real danger. She can win the Paris Olympics.
Beth led that swim and her technique was beautiful. I was blown away by it.
She has the run legs too and she will present a problem to a lot of athletes over the next couple of years.
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