Sophie Coldwell has just joined the WYN republic racing team as she gears up for her first triathlon race since becoming a new mum.
The British star won her first World Triathlon Championship Series race in 2023 – the highest level of the sport – when she saw off the likes of US phenom Taylor Knibb and current PTO world number one Kate Waugh in Yokohama.
But she was controversially left out of Team GB’s Paris 2024 Olympics squad, just missing out as a tough selection decision saw subsequent bronze medallist Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown – the most decorated female Olympic triathlete of all time – and Waugh get the call.
Coldwell’s most recent WTCS race saw her come seventh at Cagliari in May 2024 and two months later she then made her middle-distance debut when seventh at London T100.
Last year was a memorable one as she and husband Tom Evans became parents for the first time when she gave birth to daughter Phoebe in May.
And then Evans achieved a lifetime sporting ambition when he won ultrarunning’s biggest race, UTMB, with Sophie and Phoebe there to greet him in emotional scenes on the finish line in Chamonix.
‘It just shows their values’
Now Coldwell is poised to resume her professional career at the World Triathlon Cup Lanzarote on March 14th.
She has documented her return to elite sport on Instagram, with the latest indicator a two-minute postpartum PB of 16:41 at a local 5km running race.
Further good news came this week when she revealed: “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined the WYN republic racing team for 2026. What means a lot to me is that WYN believes in me and is signing me at a time when I haven’t raced in 18 months, have just had a baby, and am heading into a year of so many unknowns. It just shows their values and how closely they align with mine.”
That was reciprocated by WYN republic who posted: “Sophie brings an incredible list of career highlights, including a win at WTCS Yokohama, podium finishes at WTCS Abu Dhabi and WTCS Leeds (twice), and a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games Mixed Team Relay. She’s also represented Great Britain on the world stage and has earned multiple medals across International Triathlon Union (ITU) and European Triathlon Union (ETU) Championships.
“Now stepping into a new chapter as a mom, Sophie is embracing the balance of training, racing, and resilience as she builds toward the 2026 season. We’re proud to support her journey and can’t wait to see her back on course in WYN republic, this season and beyond.”
All options open
Sophie has also given an outline of how her potential season is looking, while adding the caveat: “Just to clarify, I’m not racing all of these… it’s very start / wild card dependent for me this year.”
It all starts with that World Triathlon Cup in Lanzarote and that’s set to be followed by the opening WTCS race in Abu Dhabi at the end of March.
Other WTCS races follow as do more middle-distance events, whether they are IRONMAN 70.3s (Valencia, Aix-en-Provence, Elsinore and Swansea all in the mix) or T100s (Spain, potentially London again and maybe others).
All of which should hopefully lead to World Championship grand finals in the WTCS (Pontevedra), 70.3 (Nice) / T100 (Qatar) – or all three!
And she signed off by saying: “All I do know is 2026 is going to be CRAZY 😂 Juggling this slightly chaotic life with a husband who’s ‘quite’ good at running and a small human in tow… tips very welcome 😅”
