First Olympic spots up for grabs at the Paris Test Event

by Olalla Cernuda on 11 Aug, 2023 07:47 • Español

Welcome to the dazzling city of Paris, where the world’s best elite triathletes and para triathletes are ready for the 2023 Olympic Test Event. The stage is set, and the excitement is palpable. Against the backdrop of iconic landmarks, during four days as the sun casts its golden glow upon the Champs-Elysées, the world’s best triathletes will dive into the Seine river, embarking on a journey that will test their strength just one year before the Paris 24 Olympics. The best triathletes of the world are ready to illuminate the City of Light, and potentially fight for the first direct tickets to the Olympics next summer.

The athletes
65 men and 65 women will take the start on the individual races in Paris. Simply the best. That’s the sentence that better resumes the start list for the 2023 Paris Test Event, both on the men and women’s fields. Almost all the Olympic medallists from Tokyo -Flora Duffy, Katie Zaferes, Taylor Knibb, Cassandre Beaugrand, Leonie Periault, Kristian Blummenfelt, Alex Yee, Hayden Wilde, Jonathan Brownlee, Vincent Luis and Dorian Coninx- will be taking the start for another chance of Olympic glory.

But the start lists are also stacked with up and coming new talent, the current leaders of the World Triathlon Championship Series and usual faces on the top-tier podiums this season are ready to perform at their best in Paris next week. Watch out for Vasco Vilaca, Matthew Hauser, Leo Bergere, Beth Potter, Emma Lombardi or Jeanne Lehair, just to name a few.

On the Para races, lots of familiar faces ready to check the course in Paris and battle for a Test Event that will also give prize money for the first time. Double Paralympic champion Jetze Plat, local hero Alexis Hanquinquant and what can be potentially another nail biting battle between Para triathlon stars Lauren Parker and Kendall Gretsch.

The Test Event will the perfect opportunity for all to check the courses and even trying to secure early enough a spot on the Olympic teams for each nation.

Where and when to watch

All the races will be available live and on demand on TriathlonLIVE.tv, if you don’t have a season pass yet, here you can grab a Pay-Per-View pass.

Women’s race – Thursday August 17, 8am CEST
Men’s race – Friday August 18, 8am CEST
Para races – Saturday August 19, 8am CEST
Mixed Relay – Sunday August 20, 8am CEST

The Courses
The Men and Women individual races will be over the Standard distance: 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run. The swim course takes place in the beautiful Seine river, at the bottom of the Alexandre III bridge. It will be two laps counter-clock wise, and the athletes will dive in from a pontoon and pass under the Invalides bridge on both laps. After exiting the water by the ramp, watch out for the 36 steps they have to climb to access transition.
The 40km bike course is made up of seven laps, mostly flat with some technical turns. The course passes along iconic places in Paris like the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Champs Elysees or the Orsay Museum, to name a few. 26% of the bike course has cobblestones. Finally, the 10km run course is made of four laps of 2.5km each to cross the finish line located on the Alexandre III bridge.

The Para race will be on the usual Sprint distance: 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. The swim, as all other events, is in the Seine river, with one lap of 750m planned, going under the Invalides bridge. The 20km bike course is made up of one lap of 1.5km and five laps of 3.7km each, mostly flat and passing by some iconic places in Paris. The run course is made of a connection of one lap of 1.2km and two laps of 1.9km each.

Fort he Mixed Relay, the swim Will be just one lap of 300m. The 5.8km bike course is made of two laps of, mostly flat with some technical turns and aprox 32% of the bike course being cobbled. Finally, the 1.8km run consists of two laps ok 900m each also with some areas cobbled, to cross the finish line on Alexandre III bridge.

The Olympic spots
The total quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be 110 athletes (55 men and 55 women), with the Qualification period running from 27 May 2022 until 27 May 2024. There will be various ways to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and earn one of the 55 spots available.

France has already qualified a Team (2 men & 2 women) as the Host Country. Team Great Britain also qualified a Team at the 2022 Mixed Relay World Championships (they finished second behind France, already qualified), and so did Germany, as winners of the 2023 Mixed Relay World Champions.

Even though every National Federation and National Olympic Committee don’t have to release the list of the athletes that will be competing at the Olympics until 28 May, 2024, for some nations the Test event will give automatic spots for the Olympics.

For USA, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, USA or UK, among others, a podium or even a top five or top eight place in Paris means securing a place on the Olympic selection, even though for a few countries it has some other variables that they need to consider.

For the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, para triathletes will have the chance to compete in 11 medal events. For the men categories, medals will be awarded for the PTWC, PTVI, PTS2, PTS3, PTS4 and PTS5 categories. On the women’s side, medals will be contested on the PTWC, PTVI, PTS2, PTS4 and PTS5 classes.

For all Medal Events except Women’s PTS4, the top nine ranked athletes on the
World Triathlon Paralympic Qualification Ranking as of 1 July 2024 within each medal event will obtain one qualification slot for their National Paralympic Committee (NPC) up to a maximum of two slots per NPC.

Start Lists
Elite Women
Elite Men
Para triathlon
Mixed Relay