Beth Potter says she’ll do everything in her powers to retain her world title in Saturday’s WTCS Grand Final showdown in Torremolinos.
The Brit crowned an incredible journey since switching to triathlon from track running when she became World Champion in Pontevedra 12 months ago.
A repeat of what happened that day – Potter first and Cassandre Beaugrand third – would be just enough to see her again finish top of the season standings.
However Olympic champ Beaugrand knows that first or second will see her claim a maiden title.
So it’s all to play for and Potter feels she’s in the sort of form she needs to be after a successful season but one which has featured a number of near misses.
‘I won’t give up’
She was right in the mix in Paris and came away with two bronze medals and last time out she was runner-up at WTCS Weihai, making it 10 successive podiums in individual and relay events, though the last time she was on the top step in an outdoor event was Pontevedra.
Speaking to TRI247 this week, she said: “I feel like I’ve been winning form all year, but I just haven’t quite managed to kind of tease it out, which is unfortunate.
“But I’m just going to focus on executing my own race plan on Saturday, trust the process and I won’t give up for sure.
I’ll fight until the very end.
“Hopefully my running has been getting better in every race, I finally felt more like myself in Weihai – I’m not completely sure why but I’ve not been feeling it on the run this year so if I can build on Weihai then I think I’ll be in a really strong position.”
‘Finding the one-percenters’
And she admits that – in common with many athletes – she’s found the post-Olympic spell draining and is looking forward to some time off to plan for the next phase of her triathlon career.
She added: “A lot of it is not knowing how I was going to feel off the back of the Olympics. I hadn’t planned anything other than up to the 31st of July.
“It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind since Paris and I just need some time off before I can make any plans. I’ve not spent more than probably ten days at home since June, so have missed the kind of consistency of my daily routine as well.
“I need to be fully fresh and fully excited about the next four years and then I think it’s always about getting better and trying to find the one-percenters.”
How to pace a triathlon to leave it all out there WITHOUT blowing up
