Britain’s Beth Potter remains confident she can strike individual gold at the Olympics in Paris later this month – despite again being beaten by home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand at the weekend.
The duo have met three times this season, with Potter taking the opener at the E World Triathlon Championships in London in April.
But outdoors – and at WTCS level – the score is 2-0 to Beaugrand after her win over the Olympic distance in Cagliari and then again at sprint distance in Hamburg.
On both occasions Potter was third, Germany’s Lisa Tertsch pipping her on the run.
‘A good rehearsal’
Potter would have been the favourite for Olympic gold at the end of last season after her victory in the Paris Test Event was followed by success in the WTCS Grand Final in Pontevedra which saw her crowned World Champion for the first time.
But French star Beaugrand has turned things around since then and goes into a home Games seemingly the one to beat.
Speaking to World Triathlon after the Hamburg victory where she looked in imperious form as she won by 11 seconds, she said: “I had to catch Beth after T2 and I was not sure of how my legs would respond after a block of training in altitude, but I felt good so I decided to go for it.
“I am very proud of myself right now. I will try my best in Paris but it will not be the end of my career if I don’t do well. And I love to be pushed by the crowds, so this [Hamburg] is a good rehearsal of what Paris can be.”
“It was good for me to race before the Olympics, it works for me to not have a big gap between races.”
‘I’m confident in my team’
Potter though also exuded calm in her post-race interview, saying: “The big one’s in two-and-a-half weeks and that’s the goal for this year.
“I’m satisfied with where I’m at, obviously I would’ve preferred to have been a couple of places higher, but I’ve still got a couple of weeks.
“I’m just fully focused on what I can do. I know my training’s been really good recently and I probably just need to freshen up a little bit more ahead of Paris, but I’m confident in my team back home.”
And given that Tertsch has now split Beaugrand and Potter in each of the last two races, has she emerged as a strong medal contender herself?
She said afterwards: “Preparations for Paris are going great. I’ve work hard on my swim and it showed up today.”
Tertsch also helped Germany to back-to-back world Mixed Team Relay titles in Hamburg to underline they will give the likes of Team GB and France plenty to think about in that sphere in Paris.
Stay tuned to TRI247 over the next fortnight for all our detailed analysis and predictions ahead of the Olympics!
