Ollie Conway and Hugo Milner started the 2026 season in eye-catching fashion at the World Triathlon Cup Haikou over the weekend.

Conway underlined why he looks a superstar of the future as his first individual race since becoming World U23 Champion saw him power away from a stacked field, while Milner again produced a devastating run – the fastest of the day by some margin – to join him on the podium.

Next up for Conway is the opening WTCS race of the season in Samarkand while Milner, who is rebuilding his ranking after an injury-hit 2025, heads to European Triathlon Cup Quarteira this Saturday, a race he won in 2024.

We sat down with both of them recently to chat about the season ahead and the battle to claim a place in the GB team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Strength in depth

The duo arrived in elite triathlon through very different pathways, but both believe Britain’s remarkable depth of talent is helping push them towards the top.

Milner came into the sport from a running background, switching to triathlon only a few years ago.

Conway, by contrast, has effectively grown up in the sport, progressing through the development pathway after being inspired by London 2012.

Now the two British prospects find themselves sharing training camps, racing against the same rivals and pushing each other forward as part of one of the strongest national squads in the sport.

That strength in depth is already shaping their careers.

“Getting WTCS starts is difficult because there are so many strong British athletes,” Conway explained. “So trying to get points through World Cups and qualify for WTCS is challenging in itself. But I think it pushes everyone to get to the top of their game.”

Milner is experiencing that reality first-hand and he told us: “I’m not ranked high enough to get automatic World Series starts at the moment.

“So I’m going back to European Cups for a bit, starting with Quarteira, and hopefully getting some good results to move back up.”

‘A really good’ training dynamic

Away from racing, the two have developed a training partnership that plays to each athlete’s strengths.

They were even sharing rooms on the recent training camp in Australia – though the competitive edge is never far away.

“I think Ollie’s scared of me,” Milner joked.

Conway quickly fired back: “Hugo’s obviously faster on the run and probably the swim as well,” he said. “But I think I’ve got him on the bike at the moment.”

Milner believes the contrast in strengths makes the partnership particularly effective.

“On the swim I can push Ollie quite hard,” he explained. “But on the bike he’s really strong and technically very good, so he can push me there. “It’s a really good dynamic.”

A changing sport

Both athletes also agree that elite triathlon is evolving quickly – and becoming more demanding across all three disciplines.

“When I first started triathlon it felt like some races would come together and turn into run races,” Milner said.

“But the last couple of years have shown that if your swim’s not good enough there’s often a breakaway.”

Conway agrees the sport is moving away from predictable pack racing: “In the last year especially the swim has become much more important. Before it could just form one big bike pack and then it was a run race.

“Now it feels like true triathlon – you can’t really have a weakness.”

Bike skills becoming decisive

That evolution has made the bike leg more decisive than ever, Conway believes – not just in terms of power but also tactics and positioning.

“There’s a lot to think about,” he said.

“It’s easier to pull turns in a tailwind than a headwind, and if you’re at the back going into every turn you’re working much harder coming out.

“So tactics, positioning and bike handling all play a big role.”

For Milner and Conway, the message is clear: the bar in triathlon is rising every year.

But rather than fearing that challenge, both are determined to embrace it and it puts Team GB into a super-strong position as the build to LA2028 really gets under way.