There are some disappointments in sport that never completely disappear.

For Sophie Evans, missing out on the Paris Olympics will always be one of them.

And two years after her controversial omission from Great Britain’s triathlon team, she still believes the wrong decision was made.

Time has brought perspective – but it has not changed her mind.

“I’ll go to my grave thinking that decision was wrong,” Evans told TRI247 in a wide-ranging interview ahead of WTCS London this weekend. “And I will stand by that decision.”

Acceptance – but not agreement

They are striking words from an athlete whose life has changed immeasurably since then.

Since the biggest disappointment of her sporting career, Evans became a mother, returned to elite racing and found a very different relationship with the sport she loves.

Crucially, that new perspective has not rewritten history.

“It’s very hard for me now because I have something out of that situation that is incredible,” she explained.

“But I’m not sitting here going, ‘I’m so happy about the decision because I’ve done something else and it’s absolutely fine.’ I’m not like that at all.

“But I’ve shut the door on that and I can’t change the decision now.”

Acceptance, however, does not mean agreement.

Evans remains convinced she should have been selected for Paris. What has changed is where that disappointment now sits in her life.

It is not a defining chapter.

Instead, it has become one part of a much bigger story.

“If I’m staying in short-course racing, it’s because I believe I’m good enough to go to an Olympic Games, or can be good enough in two years to go.

“So that door’s not shut.

“But it’s definitely not fully open.”

‘It just needs to be clear’

Whether that path ultimately leads towards Los Angeles 2028, for which the qualifying window is now open, remains one of the biggest questions of her comeback season.

Middle-distance racing continues to grow in appeal, while balancing elite sport with family life has inevitably altered the way she thinks about success.

For now, Evans is deliberately resisting the temptation to force an answer.

She is simply enjoying racing again.

There is, however, one lasting hope to emerge from everything that happened around Paris.

That another athlete never has to experience the same uncertainty.

“The decision is the decision and the Games have happened,” she added.

“The only positive that can come out of that is that it doesn’t happen again.

“I don’t want it to happen to me again, but I definitely don’t want it to happen to another athlete.

“It just needs to be clear and hopefully that’s all you can ask for.”