Jessica Learmonth, who played a crucial part in Great Britain’s gold medal winning mixed relay team at the Tokyo Olympics, will return to racing after a two year hiatus on May 26 at IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau.
Learmonth, who gave birth to her first child back in September, will race for the second time over the middle distance, having finished third on her debut at IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote back in 2022.
One of the most popular athletes on the circuit, the return of the Yorkshire native further bolsters Great Britain’s current crop of professional female triathletes, which across both short course and long course racing is amongst the best in the world.
Tough competition set for Kraichgau clash
In her first ever middle distance race, Learmonth was only beaten by Kat Matthews and Anne Haug in Lanzarote. In Kraichgau, Learmonth will go head-to-head with another top athlete, Laura Philipp, who returns as the defending champion.
Last year, Philipp beat Lucy Charles-Barclay and Ellie Salthouse to the title, and next weekend will face a similar test against Learmonth, who shares a likeness in her strong swim-bike combo to Charles-Barclay.
Other contenders include German duo Caroline Pohle and Laura Jansen, plus Swiss athlete Emma Bilham, with Diede Diederiks of the Netherlands another strong athlete over this distance.
With Philipp, Diederiks and Pohle already qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in December, and Kraichgau offering two spots for Taupo, a Top 5 finish could be enough to secure Learmonth a spot in New Zealand at the end of 2024.
Ten years after making her professional triathlon debut, it will be fantastic to see Learmonth return to racing, as the 36-year-old takes the first step to reinstate herself as one of the top athletes in the sport.
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