How The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Triathlon Teams Are Selected

With Paris just around the corner this summer, let's take a look at how the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Triathlon teams were selected.

Meet the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team

USA Triathlon announced in June its selections for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team, the five athletes who will represent the United States in the Triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.  

Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.), Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.) and Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.) have been selected to compete for the U.S. this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the Triathlon competitions scheduled for July 30-31 and Aug. 5 in the heart of Paris.  

“This is an extremely talented and decorated team that brings a wealth of medal potential and experience into the Games,” said Scott Schnitzspahn, USA Triathlon High Performance General Manager. “We have several athletes capable of earning an Olympic medal both in the individual events in Paris and in the Mixed Relay, and we are excited to see what they can accomplish. The depth of talent among our U.S. athletes is incredible, with more individuals deserving of a nod than spots available. I want to acknowledge the difficult decisions the Games Athlete Selection Panel faced to finalize this talented team. The future of Triathlon and our U.S. athletes is bright and we are all looking forward to seeing what unfolds this summer and beyond.” 

Who Has Qualified for the Paralympic Team?

For the Paralympics, 10 U.S. Elite Paratriathlon National Team members have qualified for Paris 2024: Grace Norman (Bloomington, Ind.), Kelly Elmlinger (San Antonio, Texas), Hailey Danz (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill.), Mohamed Lahna (Elk Grove, Calif.), Owen Cravens (Algonquin, Ill., with guide Ben Hoffman), Howie Sanborn (Denver, Colo.), Mark Barr (Davis Calif.), Carson Clough (Charlotte, N.C.), Chris Hammer (Gilbert, Ariz.), Melissa Stockwell (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kyle Coon (Colorado Springs, Colo.,with guide Zack Goodman), Emilia Perry (Philadelphia, Pa.), Eric McElvenny (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Emma Meyers (Pensacola, Fla.), Rachel Watts (St. Joseph, Mo., via a country slot reallocation) and Allysa Seely (Denver Colo., received a Bipartite invitation from the Bipartite Commission).

How Was the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team selected?

Athletes raced for the opportunity to qualify at three automatic selection events in 2023 and 2024. Any remaining team spots that were not filled by auto-qualification were filled via discretion.

U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team members Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the 2023 World Triathlon Olympic Test Event Paris last August.

Kirsten Kasper, Taylor Spivey and Seth Rider were selected to the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team via discrection.

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) who 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.

*Update from event:

Taylor Knibb placed fifth among women, leading the U.S. women to qualify for Paris 2024.

Morgan Pearson was the top U.S. man, placing sixth to qualify for Paris 2024.

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

*Update from event:

No U.S. athletes qualified for Paris 2024 in Pontevedra.

Automatic Selection Event No. 3 | 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama

May 11, 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.

Update from event:

No U.S. athletes qualified for Paris 2024 in Yokohama.

Discretionary Selections

Remaining team spots were filled by the Olympic Games Athlete Selection Panel via Discretionary Selection. The panel considered athletes who can achieve or contribute to a podium result in the individual event and/or to the mixed relay event.

Performance guidelines considered included performances at WTCS and World Cup races, performance in Super Sprint races, recency of performance, course profile, team composition and team strategy.

Kirsten Kasper, Taylor Spivey and Seth Rider were selected to the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team via discrection.

How many athletes will compete in Paris?

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.