How U.S. Elite Triathletes Qualify for Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
by USA Triathlon
We are nearly one year out from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games!
With Paris just around the corner, let's take a look at how the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Triathlon teams will be selected.
How will the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team be selected?
There will be three automatic selection events in 2023 and 2024.
Automatic Selection Event No. 1 | 2023 World Triathlon Olympic Test Event in Paris
Aug. 17-20, 2023
In Paris, the first two athletes (per gender) that finish in the top-3 will earn automatic qualification.
If only one athlete finishes in the top-3, the next best athlete that finishes in the top-8 will also be picked (i.e. first U.S. athlete places third, the next U.S. athlete places sixth – both athletes auto-qualify).
If no athlete reaches the podium at Paris Test Event, then the best finisher in the top-8 will auto-qualify.
If no athlete finishes in the Top 8, then no athlete will auto-qualify in Paris.
Automatic Selection Event No. 2 | 2023 World Triathlon Championship Finals Pontevedra
Sept. 20-24, 2023
The first athlete to finish top-3 who has not already qualified for the team via Selection Event No. 1 will earn automatic selection (up to 1 athlete per gender)
If no athlete finishes in the top-3 at Championship Finals, then no athlete will auto-qualify in Pontevedra
Automatic Selection Event No. 3 | A TBD Olympic-distance World Triathlon Championship Series event
Held after March 1, 2024
If quota spots remain, then the first athlete to finish top-3 who has not already qualified will earn automatic selection (up to 1 per gender).
If no athlete has earned automatic selection at the first two Selection Events, then the top two athletes to finish in the top-3 at Selection Event No. 3 will earn automatic selection (up to 2 per gender).
If quota spots remain, and if no athlete has earned automatic selection at Selection Event 1, 2 or 3, then the highest-placed athlete finishing within the Top 8 at Selection Event No. 3 will earn automatic selection to the team. Only one athlete will be selected by this protocol and all remaining open spots will be filled by Discretionary Selection.
Discretionary Selections
Any remaining team spots will be filled by the Olympic Games Athlete Selection Panel via Discretionary Selection. The panel will consider athletes who can achieve or contribute to a podium result in the individual event and/or to the mixed relay event.
Performance guidelines that will be considered include performances at WTCS and World Cup races, performance in Super Sprint races, recency of performance, course profile, team composition and team strategy.
How many athletes will qualify?
Paris 2024 will include 110 spots (55 men and 55 women). The maximum spots any country can earn is three men and three women for a total of six.
To earn the maximum three spots per gender, a country must have three athletes within the top 30 places of the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Rankings as of May 27, 2024.
For the Tokyo 2020 Games, the U.S. sent three women and two men.
How will the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team be selected?
The U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team is selected via performances at three key Selection Events.
Selection Event No. 1 | World Triathlon Para Cup Paris
August 17-20, 2023 | Selection Event Priority 1
Selection Event No. 2 | 2023 World Triathlon Para Championships Pontevedra
Sept. 23-24, 2023 | Selection Event Priority 2
Selection Event No. 3 | 2024 Americas Triathlon Para Championships
TBD: March 1, 2024 through June 25, 2024 | Selection Event Priority 3
How many athletes can qualify?
Paris 2024 will include: 54 men (18 more than in Tokyo), 50 women (14 more than in Tokyo) and another 18 spots for invitations, with no gender pre-determined.
The medal events include the following classifications:
Men
- PTWC
- PTS2
- PTS3
- PTS4
- PTS5
- PTVI
Women
- PTWC
- PTS2
- PTS4
- PTS5
- PTVI
For all Medal Events except Women’s PTS4: A country can enter a maximum of (2) eligible athletes per medal event.
For the Women’s PTS4 Medal Event: A country can enter a maximum of two (2) athletes from sport class PTS4 and one (1) athlete from sport class PTS3.
In addition, there will be 18 bipartite invitation slots offered to specific athletes, worldwide, by World Triathlon after the closing of the Paralympic Games qualifying points window. U.S. athletes may receive a bipartite invitation(s), but this is separate from the way that quota spots in each sport class are filled (e.g., the athletes added via bipartite invitations would be in addition to the country quota spots already filled via USA Triathlon’s selection criteria).
How U.S. Qualification Works
Athletes will be nominated to the Team in their respective classifications based on the following criteria, which are in priority order:
An athlete who wins both Selection Event #1 and #2 will be nominated to the Team
If no athletes win Selection Event #1 and #2, up to one athlete who places in the Top 2 of Selection Events #1 or #2 will be nominated to the Team
If slot(s) remain, an athlete not already nominated to the Team who wins Selection Event #3 will be nominated to the Team.
If slot(s) remain, the Selection Panel may utilize discretion to fill up to one remaining spot per medal event from a pool of athletes that have finished in the top 3 in one of the following events from March 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024:
- Selection Event #1
- Selection Event #2
- World Triathlon Para Series (WTPS)
- World Triathlon World Cup races
- Americas Triathlon Para Championships
If slot(s) remain, athletes not already nominated to the Team will be nominated to the Team in order of their ranking on the Paralympic Qualification ranking list as of July 1, 2024 until all slots are filled.