Taylor Knibb to race T100 San Francisco seven weeks out from Olympics
Much anticipated race between the top-two in the PTO world ranking set for San Francisco race
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
While some might think focusing on a long-distance race less than two months out from one of the biggest draft-legal races in your career might not make a lot of sense, Taylor Knibb’s signing up for T100 San Francisco is likely excellent prep for the Olympics in Paris this summer.
While Knibb (pictured above competing at the Ironman World Championship last year) is the only one of the Olympic-bound contracted Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) athletes on the start list for the San Francisco event, the race has attracted all the rest of the athletes who have signed on for the series this year. PTO World Ranked #1 Ashleigh Gentle, fresh off yet another impressive 100 km win in Singapore, arrives as the top seed for the third leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, setting up a much anticipated match up with the two-time defending Ironman 70.3 world champion.
While all eyes will be on Gentle and Knibb, they are hardly the only big names in the San Francisco field. While 10 time Ironman and Ironman 70.3 world champ Daniela Ryf remains questionable because of an injury sustained at Ironman South Africa, there’s no shortage of stars ready to go after the win. That includes German 2019 Ironman world champion Anne Haug, her countrywoman Laura Philipp, 2022 Kona winner Chelsea Sodaro and many more big names. Here’s the complete list of contracted athletes who have signed up for the race:
- Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
- Taylor Knibb (USA)
- Anny Haug (GER)
- Daniela Ryf (SUI)
- Laura Philipp (GER)
- Paula Findlay (CAN)
- Emma Pallant-Browne (GBR)
- Kat Matthews (GBR)
- India Lee (GBR)
- Chelsea Sodaro (USA)
- Imogen Simmonds (SUI)
- Lucy Byram (GBR)
- Amelia Watkinson (NZL)
- Marjolaine Pierre (FRA)
- Skye Moench (USA)
- Tamara Jewett (CAN)
Long-distance Olympic prep
Knibb isn’t the first athlete to use long-distance races to gear up for the Olympics. Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig liked to use half-distance races to prepare for the Olympics – before her win in London in 2012 and her silver-medal performance in 2016 she dialled in her fitness through the longer distance efforts, winning them all.
Last year Knibb nailed her Olympic spot with a sixth-place finish at the Paris Test Event, less than two weeks after winning the PTO US Open in dramatic fashion.
