World Champion Kate Waugh will not be in the starting lineup for this month’s opening race of the T100 Triathlon World Tour season after revealing she is still recovering from a calf injury.
The British athlete was due to kick off the defence of her title on the Gold Coast next weekend, but despite flying out to Australia, she has had to admit defeat and accept she is not fit enough to race.
Lined up for what she hopes will be another hugely successful T100 and World Triathlon Championship Series campaign, she posted on her Instagram page on Tuesday that the ‘risk vs reward’ balance on competing in Queensland was tipping too far in the wrong direction.
Seven podiums from seven races
World number one Waugh took the T100 title last season after an impressive campaign, which saw her podium in all seven of the tour races that she competed in, finishing with a third, three second places, and three wins – including the World Championship Final in Qatar.
Her Instagram post reads: “As excited and proud as I am to start the 2026 @t100triathlon season as World No. 1, I have to trust my processes and know my body to be able to compete with the rest of the incredible women racing on the Gold Coast.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to recover from a minor, slow-recovering (and annoyinggg) calf injury. Sadly, I just don’t have enough time to be ‘race ready’ and fight for a podium, so I have had to make the tough decision to withdraw from the race.
“One thing I’ve learned over the years as a pro athlete is that we are constantly weighing up the ‘risk vs reward’ balance. On this occasion, the risk far outweighs the reward when I consider how deep my T100 and WTCS season will go in 2026.
‘I’ll be back soon – K’
“I’m out here in the Gold Coast right now and feel so lucky to be rehabbing (harddd) in a beautiful part of the world. I’ll be back soon – K❤️.”
This year’s T100 will be very different to 2025’s showcase, with just the one pro race held at each event through to December’s Grand Final in Qatar, with the women taking centre stage in Australia on Sunday, March 22, and the men starting their season in Singapore on April 26.
Waugh’s injury omission means that four of the sport’s big guns will now be missing on the Gold Coast, with fellow Briton Lucy Charles-Barclay having already announced she won’t be competing as she continues her recovery from surgery on a tendon issue in her lower leg, Ashleigh Gentle pulling out due to pregnancy, and Lucy Byram struggling with a hip issue.
Byram has also travelled to Australia but revealed last week how she won’t be competing as she gives her ‘body and mind time to rest’ before coming back when ‘really ready’.
Byram struggling with hip injury
Having suffered the agony of losing her partner, Sam O’Shea, last year, Byram delivered one of the bravest and most emotional moments of the 2025 final in Qatar when she crossed the line in 11th place and was immediately swamped by her loving fellow athletes.
In announcing her injury, she said on Instagram: “Something was inevitably going to break; I just didn’t think it would be my hip 🥲.
“Over the last 6 months, my mind and body have gone through a lot, and I am still very much in the thick of it. Emotional pain is more physical than I ever imagined, and I guess the cracks are starting to show.
“What in the past would have felt like a devastating setback and tough to accept is now so, so small in the grand scheme of things. It will give my body and mind time to rest and come back when I’m really ready.
“I’m in Australia for the first time. Yes, I’m not here doing what I would like to be doing. But I’m still here with some of my favourite people, so it could be a lot worse ❤️🩹💙.”
It seemingly opens the door for the likes of American Taylor Knibb, Switzerland’s Julie Derron and Spain’s Sara Perez Sala to take full advantage and get some early points on the board ahead of what promises to be a fascinating year on the T100 circuit.
