It’s been virtually the perfect start to the season for surely the most versatile triathlete on the planet.
Two out of two at middle distance, with dominant wins at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and the T100 San Francisco which have propelled her to world #1.
A runner-up spot in Yokohama, followed just days later by victory in the US National Time Trial Championship, means she’s heading to the Olympics in both triathlon and road cycling.
All of which sets her up perfectly for not only Paris but also potential tilts at becoming WTCS champion, outright T100 winner and again defending her IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title in December!
Welcome to the world of Taylor Knibb.
We caught up with her Head Coach Dan Lorang recently to find out how she manages to pack in one top-quality performance after another – and just what the priorities are between now and the end of the year…
Olympics out on its own
She revealed on the recent first episode of World Triathlon’s docu-series ‘Dare To Dream’ [embedded at the bottom of this page] how she left Dan in little doubt about what her A+ objective in 2024 was, saying: “My new coach had me write down a priority list and straight away my target, my focus, my priority was Paris.
“Which is kind of scary in a way because putting your full focus, your full dedication and commitment into one thing – putting your eggs all in one basket – can be dangerous because it may not work out. But in order to have the best outcome you have to have that trust and that faith. And we’ll see what happens on July 31st.”
And that was underlined by Dan when he told us: “The main target, the main goal this season is the Olympic Games.
“And also number one is triathlon for sure. Number two is cycling. It’s not a big secret. We are really transparent about this. But for sure she will always go all in for all of them.
“So she will go all in the time trial [a week today, on July 27th], no matter if she has another competition soon after. But from the prioritisation, also from the training, the Olympic Games is the main focus.”
‘Having all the weapons in place’
And there can surely be no better coach than Lorang to mentor her in both disciplines.
He helped guide Lucy Charles-Barclay to a long-awaited IRONMAN World Championship crown last year and has overseen the incredible long-distance careers of Anne Haug and Jan Frodeno.
But he’s also Head of Performance and Head Coach of the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe professional cycling team which is currently in action at the Tour de France.
And asked how Knibb’s cycling prowess could impact the women’s individual triathlon in Paris, it’s clear she’s not going to be content to just sit in the pack.
Lorang explained: “Yeah, she has something special there. Let me turn it around slightly too and say that the differences between the top ladies is quite small. So we have to find out where can you make a difference towards your opponents.
“And for sure using that amazing bike power could be one weapon to use in the competition. But there are also some other girls who could probably use the same strategy. So that’s why there could even be some kind of working together before it comes to the run. We’ll have to see.”
“But I think everybody, first of all, has to be 100% at the start line. That is the main thing – coming healthy to that start line and having all the weapons in place.
“Then you need to react on the situation. But I think it’s not a big secret that Taylor will not wait for something to happen.”
The ‘fun’ factor
And while there is so much riding on the Olympics, Lorang was keen to emphasize the importance of not being overwhelmed by the enormity of what’s at stake – and believes that Taylor has the perfect mindset to deal with the pressure.
He told us: I think she wants really to be the best version of herself and really work on that on a daily basis, while also keeping the fun in it.
“I think for every high-performance athlete, it’s important to keep that fun aspect.
“It should never get lost, even with all the pressure that you probably feel or that you get from outside. You should never forget why you started doing the sport in the first place.”
Are we in a triathlon boom, or hurtling towards burnout? Laura Siddall on the growth of the sport
