We reach a pivotal point in the countdown to the Olympic Games Triathlon of 2024 when the eagerly-awaited Paris Test Event goes down in France this week, with the Elite Men set for a fascinating clash.

Defending champion Kristian Blummenfelt will continue his return to short-course racing as he once again tests himself against a galaxy of stars bidding to take his crown.

Britain’s Alex Yee and New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde – both medallist behind ‘Big Blu’ in Tokyo in 2021 – will be favoured to figure at the business end again along with Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca. Australia’s Matt Hauser though is OUT after revealing on Thursday that he had tested positive for COVID.

As well as Yee, Britain will yet again have Olympic great Jonny Brownlee as part of their team – as he looks to add yet more lustre to the family’s incredible Games CV.

Paris Test Event Start List – Elite Men

BIB	FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	COUNTRY
1	Hayden	Wilde	NZL
2	Vasco	Vilaca	POR
3	Léo	Bergere	FRA
4	Matt	Hauser	AUS
5	Alex	Yee	GBR
6	Kristian	Blummenfelt	NOR
7	Dorian	Coninx	FRA
8	Csongor	Lehmann	HUN
9	Adrien	Briffod	SUI
10	Kenji	Nener	JPN
11	Manoel	Messias	BRA
12	Jonas	Schomburg	GER
14	Pierre	Le Corre	FRA
15	Jelle	Geens	BEL
16	Tyler	Mislawchuk	CAN
17	Roberto	Sanchez Mantecon	ESP
18	Henri	Schoeman	RSA
19	Antonio	Serrat Seoane	ESP
20	Miguel	Hidalgo	BRA
21	Tim	Hellwig	GER
22	Bence	Bicsák	HUN
23	Dylan	McCullough	NZL
24	Max	Studer	SUI
25	Tayler	Reid	NZL
26	Lasse	Lührs	GER
27	Richard	Murray	NED
28	Vetle Bergsvik	Thorn	NOR
29	Charles	Paquet	CAN
30	Seth	Rider	USA
31	Jonny	Brownlee	GBR
32	Jacob	Birtwhistle	AUS
33	David	Castro Fajardo	ESP
34	Emil	Holm	DEN
35	Márk	Dévay	HUN
36	Matthew	McElroy	USA
37	Vincent	Luis	FRA
38	Luke	Willian	AUS
39	Johannes	Vogel	GER
40	Michele	Sarzilla	ITA
41	Gianluca	Pozzatti	ITA
42	Simon	Westermann	SUI
43	Brandon	Copeland	AUS
44	Ricardo	Batista	POR
45	Takuma	Hojo	JPN
46	Gábor	Faldum	HUN
47	Jawad	Abdelmoula	MAR
48	Makoto	Odakura	JPN
49	Diego	Moya	CHI
50	Simon	Henseleit	GER
51	Sergio	Baxter Cabrera	ESP
52	Alois	Knabl	AUT
53	Jumpei	Furuya	JPN
54	Genis	Grau	ESP
55	Shachar	Sagiv	ISR
56	Nicolò	Strada	ITA
57	Noah	Servais	BEL
58	Aram Michell	Peñaflor Moysen	MEX
59	Rostislav	Pevtsov	AZE
60	Chase	McQueen	USA
61	Brock	Hoel	CAN
62	Darr	Smith	USA
63	Casper	Stornes	NOR
64	Aoba	Yasumatsu	JPN
65	Antonio	Bravo Neto	BRA
66	Ayan	Beisenbayev	KAZ

What time does the race start?

The Elite Men get their race under way at 0800 local time (CET) on Friday August 18. That is 0700 in the UK or 0200 EST on the East Coast of the United States. If you are following the race on the West Coast, it gets under way at 2300 PST on Thursday August 17.

How to watch the race on live stream or TV

If you are in the UK, check local listings for coverage from the Olympic broadcaster the BBC (via BBC main channels, iPlayer, red button and website).

In the United States the Olympic broadcaster is NBC so again check local listings for coverage in that region.

You can of course also sign up for World Triathlon’s ‘Triathlonlive.tv’ service to watch all the events as they happen.

What is the distance for the Paris Test Event?

The Elite Men will race over the Olympic distance – that is 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run.