Vicky Holland will return to top-level triathlon for the first time since November 2021 this weekend, having welcomed her first child at the start of the year with husband and coach Rhys Davey.
Holland claimed an Olympic Bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games, also won the ITU World Triathlon Championship in 2018 and is a multiple podium finisher at the WTCS level in a career which has spanned over a decade.
Now the Brit will line up for back-to-back World Triathlon Cup events just 8 months after giving birth to daughter Emmie as she throws her hat in the ring for a spot on one of the most competitive squads in triathlon.
Holland back into the fray
Having been in the commentary booth for both the PTO and Super League since her last race at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2021, the Gloucester native features on two upcoming start lists for World Cup races.
This weekend Vicky will make the trip out to Tangier, where Morocco will host its first World Triathlon Cup and the first top-tier event in Africa since the World Triathlon Cup in Cape Town, an event the Brit has previously won.
With fond memories of racing on African soil, Holland will hope to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen, two other Olympic medalists and mothers who have successfully navigated a return to the top level of racing this season.
Jorgensen, who was on the podium with Holland in Rio and Zaferes, who Holland pipped to the world title five years ago, both faced some challenges this season. However, the pair also managed to accumulate enough points to gain starts to the biggest races of the year at the Paris Test Event and WTCS Finals in Pontevedra.
From Tangier to Rome
Racing over the sprint distance in Tangier, Holland will have an hour of intense racing to welcome her back into the fray, before the following week venturing back over to Europe and heading to Italy and the World Triathlon Cup Rome.
The race in Rome will also be held over the sprint distance and will offer Holland the perfect opportunity to build on what she learnt from her race in Tangier.