USA Triathlon has made the eagerly-awaited announcement confirming its discretionary picks to complete its team for the Olympic Games triathlon at Paris 2024.
After huge speculation, the organisation made official on Wednesday the names of the three athletes joining Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson in the French capital next month.
Pearson and Knibb had both nailed down their spots automatically last August thanks to their terrific performances in the Paris Test Event. But that left the remaining hopefuls battling against each other for seats on the plane to France.
On Wednesday night came the news that Taylor Spivey, Kirsten Kasper and Seth Rider will claim the three remaining spots as Team USA prepares for the biggest test of all in short-course racing.
For Spivey in particular the moment will be especially sweet after the pain of agonisingly missing out on a place at Tokyo in 2021.
The news means though that it is pain this time for Tokyo individual bronze medalist Katie Zaferes and 2016 Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen.
It would appear the selectors gave most weight to that key race at WTCS Yokohama last month, where Spivey finished fourth and Kasper fifth.
The selectors meanwhile left out their top ranked male for the second consecutive Games, with Matt McElroy failing to win a place. That despite McElroy finishing 13th in Yokohama with Rider 26th.
Wealth of medal potential
“This is an extremely talented and decorated team that brings…
