usa triathlon elite national team collage of 11 photos

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Triathlon today announced the 11 members of the 2022 Toyota U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team, the group of athletes who will represent the U.S. at the highest levels of elite World Triathlon competition during the 2022 season.

The talented and experienced roster includes Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 medalists, two women who finished the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series ranked second and third overall and a trio of men who in 2021 put together the best collective U.S. season in men’s history in the World Triathlon Championship Series.

2022 Toyota U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team Roster

Women
Erika Ackerlund (Helena, Mont.)
Tamara Gorman (Rapid City, S.D.)
Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.)
Taylor Knibb (Boulder, Colo.)
Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.)
Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.)
Katie Zaferes (Cary, N.C.)

Men
Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.)
Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.)
Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.)

“Both female and male elite U.S. athletes reached unprecedented heights during an incredible 2021 season both at the Olympic Games and in World Triathlon racing. This is a testament to our incredible athletes, support staff, coaches and the multisport community as a whole,” said Courtney Gardner, USA Triathlon Elite Triathlon Senior Manager. “International success by our elite athletes not only helps fuel interest and participation in the sport, but also serves as one of the markers that our high performance athletes and programs are on track and provides the next generation of athletes an important target and objective to work toward.”

Toyota, USA Triathlon’s Exclusive Mobility & Automotive Partner, is a Proud Partner of USA Triathlon and the U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team.

“We’re proud to support USA Triathlon’s 2022 U.S. National Team,” said Dedra DeLilli, group manager, Olympic and Paralympic Marketing, Toyota Motor North America. “The naming of the National Team roster is an exciting milestone, and we wish these athletes all the success this season. Their determination and perseverance is admirable, and we look forward to seeing them compete.”

The roster includes Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Katie Zaferes (Cary, N.C.) and her Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medal winning Mixed Relay teammates, Taylor Knibb (Boulder, Colo.), Kevin McDowell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Morgan Pearson (Boulder, Colo.). In her second Olympic Games, Zaferes won bronze in the individual women’s race in Tokyo becoming the third U.S. triathlete to win an Olympic medal, joining Gwen Jorgensen (gold, 2016 Rio) and Susan Williams (bronze, 2004 Athens).

Zaferes is a part of a strong U.S. elite women’s triathlon team that in 2021 became the first country to finish a WTCS with five women in the top 12 of the overall rankings. Knibb and fellow U.S. Elite National Team member Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.) placed second and third, respectively, in the 2021 WTCS to mark the third time the U.S. has finished the series with two women on the overall podium.

Knibb won three medals during the 2021 WTCS and Spivey won one, a bronze in Montreal. Spivey’s third-place finish in the 2021 WTCS was her first time on the overall series podium as she finished fourth in the overall standings in 2019 (the 2020 WTCS was canceled due to the pandemic).

Olympian Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.) placed 16th at the Tokyo Games and finished 11th in the 2021 WTCS standings, earning a silver medal at Yokohama.

Also on the women's team includes Kristen Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), another veteran on the World Triathlon racing stage who placed 12th in the 2021 WTCS standings and Tamara Gorman (Rapid City, S.D.) who, along with Knibb, won an individual world title at both the Junior and Under-23 levels.

Rounding out the women is newcomer to the U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team, Erika Ackerlund (Helena, Mont.), who was a member of the U.S. Mixed Relay team that finished fifth at the 2021 WTCS Hamburg.

For the men’s U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team, McDowell, Pearson and Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.) in 2021 put together the best collective season in the WTCS in the country’s history.

Pearson won a silver and bronze in WTCS Leeds and WTCS Yokohama, respectively, Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), took fourth in the World Triathlon Championship Finals Edmonton, and McDowell placed placed sixth in the Olympics, the highest-ever finish for a U.S. man in the individual race at the Olympic Games.

Rider notched the U.S.’s highest-ever WTCS standing in ninth place and was joined in the top-12 by Pearson in 10th place and McDowell in 12th place to mark the first time two U.S. men have placed in the top 10 and three U.S. men have placed in the top 12.

Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) also brings strong experience racing on the WTCS stage, as he is one of only three U.S. men — along with Pearson in 2021 and Jarrod Shoemaker in 2009 — to medal in a WTCS race.

Elite triathletes will compete in World Triathlon races across the world this season, including the World Triathlon Championship Series. The WTCS, which began in 2009, is an annual series of triathlon events held in cities around the world where athletes compete head-to-head for points. The rankings are used to determine the best-performing triathletes of the season and, ultimately, the World Champions. The 2022 WTCS officially kicked off with two events in fall of 2021 — in Hamburg and Abu Dhabi — and the first WTCS race of 2022 is May 14-15 in Yokohama.

2022 World Triathlon Championship Series
2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama — May 14-15
2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds — June 11-12
2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships Montreal — June 22-26
2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg — July 9-10
2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Chengdu — Oct. 22-23
2022 World Triathlon Championship Finals — Abu Dhabi Nov. TBD

To view the complete World Triathlon season calendar, visit triathlon.org/events.

About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands, and directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America (more than 39,000 in the U.S.).

Over the past 60 years, Toyota has assembled nearly 43 million cars and trucks in North America at the company’s 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, the company’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.

Through our more than 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.), Toyota sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks (more than 2.3 million in the U.S.) in 2021, of which, more than a quarter were electrified vehicles (hybrids, plug-ins and fuel cells).

About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,000 races and connects with more than 400,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of World Triathlon and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

USA Triathlon Announces 2022 Toyota U.S. Elite Triathlon National Team Roster

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