Jess Fullagar insists her Olympic ambitions remain as strong as ever, despite discovering a new love for middle-distance racing during a breakthrough 12 months.

The British triathlete enjoyed an outstanding end to last season, finishing fifth at the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Wollongong, and then taking an attention-grabbing victory on her debut at the fabled Noosa Triathlon – joining her on the podium were Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand and U23 world champion Richelle Hill.

She continued the momentum this season when she impressed everyone on her T100 debut, taking second to American phenom Taylor Knibb on the Gold Coast, since when she’s been in the top 12 in all three of her WTCS races at Samarkand, Yokohama and Alghero.

Those performances in the non-drafting races in particular at Noosa and the T100 have naturally prompted questions about whether her future lies over longer distances, but the 25-year-old says Los Angeles 2028 remains the clear target.

“It’s definitely the overriding ambition,” Fullagar told TRI247 when we met up with her ahead of upcoming WTCS events in Hamburg (this weekend) and London (25 July).

“I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics since I was a little girl. It’s an ambitious goal and making an Olympic team is always super hard.

“We are so lucky to have so many talented girls at the moment. There are seven or eight of us fighting for three spots, so it’s not an easy feat to accomplish.

“But yeah, it’s been a dream that I’ve wanted to do and I think 2028, or 2032, is definitely what I’m aiming for.”

Letting go of the rope

Ironically, the results which have elevated Fullagar into the Olympic conversation arrived after she stopped chasing them quite so desperately.

Despite feeling she was making progress throughout last season, she admits frustration had begun to build before one simple piece of advice transformed her outlook.

“I just was left wanting more,” she explained.

“Someone actually told me, ‘Just let go of the rope, Jess.’ Stop fighting it.

“I think I just relaxed and I went into that race [the WTCS Grand Final in Wollongong] thinking, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose.’

“When I came fifth it was a complete shock and I was just so happy. I think it gave me some fresh momentum.”

That momentum carried into Noosa, where she tackled non-drafting racing for the first time, before ending the year with a World Cup podium in Miyazaki.

Discovering a love for T100

Although her long-term ambitions remain focused on short-course racing, Fullagar admitted she quickly realised that middle-distance racing suited both her strengths and her mentality.

But she deliberately avoided racing to predetermined power numbers on her T100 debut.

“We said, ‘Should we look at numbers? Do you want to race to numbers?’

“I said, ‘No. I’m a racer. I just want to go out and race it and see what comes of it.’

“I think the thing I was most scared of was nutrition because that’s what people say changes drastically. So I was just drinking and eating so much that day.

“But I absolutely loved it.”

The format also allowed one of her greatest weapons – the bike leg – to become more influential.

“I’ve always just felt like I’ve got a bit more of an engine rather than a short and fast kind of kick.

“I love to keep going all day, just ticking over at that high tempo.

“Sometimes in World Series racing, because it’s drafting, it’s really hard to show your strength on the bike. If people get onto your wheel it can be hard to ride them off.

“Whereas in non-drafting racing people have to respect those distances, so you can truly show what your raw power is.

“I just think it’s a bit more of a fair playing field in terms of that.”

Best of both worlds

Rather than seeing it as a choice between WTCS and T100, Fullagar believes the two can complement one another as she builds towards LA 2028.

“I enjoyed T100, so I think I would want to complement some of that World Series racing with longer stuff.

“And the relay — I love a relay — so that is definitely the aim.”

For now, however, her focus remains firmly on continuing the steady progress that has brought her into contention at the very highest level.

Twelve months ago, consistent finishes around the top 10 in WTCS races would have seemed beyond imagination.

Now, they simply provide fresh motivation.

“I’ve learned not to expect anything,” she said.

“I think if anything it’s just left me slightly more critical of myself because I want to keep moving forward.

“If I can do fifth once, I want to do it again.

“I’ve learned it’s not always as straightforward as that, but as long as I keep moving forward and I can see things in races that show I’m trying new things and pushing myself, then that’s what I aim for.

“I trust the team around me and I trust that they give me honest feedback.

“We come back, we assess, and then it’s, ‘What can we take into the next one?'”

For an athlete who appears to have found both confidence and clarity over the past year, it is an approach that suggests there may yet be plenty more progress to come and she’s likely back in action on Sunday in the Mixed Relay Hamburg before that home race in London comes into view – more on that in the second part of this interview.