Triathlon bosses backing Brownlee to make Paris Olympics
British triathlon bosses are still backing Jonny Brownlee to make next year’s Olympics despite him missing out on the first round of selections, writes Tom Harle.
After winning mixed relay gold in Tokyo, the 33-year-old called off retirement to pursue Paris 2024 and a fourth Olympic appearance.
But Brownlee was well below his best in 2023 and has not done enough to secure an automatic spot alongside Alex Yee and Beth Potter - the first two names added to Britain’s swim, bike, run squad.
“One thing you can say about Jonny is that he knows how to get it right when it matters,” said British Triathlon Performance Director Mike Cavendish.
“He’s not had the year that he hoped for and we’re all still getting under the surface of what that means. But we’ve seen that, certainly over the short distances, he’s still one of the best in the world on his day.”
Yee echoed those sentiments, saying: “I don’t think you can ever rule out a Brownlee around the Olympic Games, he’s one of the best racers we’ve ever seen. He's an experienced and proven Games performer, so don’t rule him out.”
The World Triathlon Championship Series race in Cagliari on 25 May will go a long way to deciding Brownlee’s fate, with final selections slated for early June.
“The message is ‘go to Cagliari and make it impossible for us not to select you,’” added Cavendish. “If you go and win that, it’s going to be hard for us to leave you at home.”
One complication is the Bramhope star’s world ranking, which has fallen to 71, meaning he is not assured of a place on the start line of next year’s top-tier WTCS events.
Qualification itself is not an issue - Team GB have banked two spots in each gender after finishing second at last year’s World Relay Championships.
“I think if you were to ask Jonny, he would absolutely be saying ‘no, I can still do this’, but he will say that he probably can't do this as many times as he used to,” revealed Cavendish.
“He was barely off the podium for about four years across World Series races, he will be the first to admit that he can't do that anymore, age catches up with all of us.
“I certainly would not be betting against him on ‘one day, one race,’ if he can get on the start line at Cagliari or Yokohama, he can go out there and show us something that we haven’t seen for a while. If he does that, I wouldn’t be betting against him for Paris.”
Cavendish has seen enough in Brownlee’s performances in short-form Super League events to be convinced he can play a role in Team GB’s defence of their mixed relay title.
His individual ambitions are more of a moot point and Cavendish would not rule out him acting as a ‘domestique’ for Yee, who hopes to upgrade Tokyo silver to Paris gold having won August’s Test Event.
“The great thing with Jonny is that he'll tell you if he doesn't think he can do it,” said Cavendish, whose athletes are supported by Aldi, the Official Supermarket Partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB.
“If he thinks he can do a better job by being a pilot, or a relay specialist, he’ll tell us. We’re in a good place that actually wherever we go, we’ve got an athlete who will be able to do a job providing he’s fit and healthy and if he’s not, then he’ll be supportive with the other guys who potentially can.”
With Britain all but confirmed as having three women’s spots, choosing who to pair with Potter is an even tougher task with Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sophie Coldwell and Kate Waugh all staking strong claims.
“Quite honestly, it keeps me up at night already about which of those we’re going to pick,” said Cavendish.
“They’ll probably all have a compelling case to be selected next year and if we don't have any more time, we'll have to select them.”
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