Who are the fastest runners in triathlon at the Olympics?
It's almost time for the Paris Olympics, but if the races come down to the run leg who has the edge? We take a look…
The Paris Olympics are set to get underway at the end of the month, with dozens of triathletes hoping they’ll be the ones heading home with a medal.
If the last few Olympics are anything to go by, we could be in for a showdown of epic proportions, with the course set-up in Paris suggesting that once again it is likely to all come down to the run.
Looking ahead to the races, we’ve pulled together a list of some of the fastest runners in tri. Who will come out on top? We don’t have to wait long to find out…
Who are the fastest male triathlete runners racing in Paris?
Alex Yee, Great Britain
Fresh from his latest WTCS victory in Cagliari and taking the tape in a lower-key continental cup race in Kitzbühel, Alex Yee goes to Paris in fine form.
While he’s certainly no slouch in the swim or bike, his background in distance running means it’s the final triathlon leg where Yee’s made his name.
Yee posted a 10km time of 29min flat in last year’s Paris test event – one of the fastest run legs ever in triathlon. It was particularly impressive given both the pressure of the occasion and the accuracy of a properly measured course.
His run pedigree is also second-to-none among triathletes. In 2018, he won the British 10km title on the track with a personal best of 27:51.94 at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in London. Due to his commitments in triathlon, he has not had the opportunity to challenge himself at the distance since.
When Yee is in full flight, he seems to glide through the air, with his slight frame often looking weightless. But when the going gets tough, there’s a sheer look of determination in his face. If the Olympic Games comes down to a spectacular showdown on the run, Yee has every chance of upgrading silver to gold this time.
Hayden Wilde, New Zealand
If Yee has kicked on since individual Olympic silver, the same can equally be said of Tokyo bronze medal winner Hayden Wilde. The Taupo native ran a third-fastest 29:52 split over 10km in Japan as the race came down to a battle between himself, Yee and eventual champion Kristian Blummenfelt, and has stepped up another level in the past three years.
Highlights have included posting 14:11 for 5km – 20sec faster than anyone in the field – as he won his first WTCS race in Leeds in 2022, and an even faster 14:07 as he backed it up with another win in Hamburg a month later.
Over 10km, Wilde has been equally impressive. The 26-year-old ran 29:30 to win Yokohama WTCS last year and 29:13 in his most recent WTCS race in Cagliari where he was just one second slower than Yee.
Wilde’s 2024 form was further underlined with a new 5km personal best of 13:23.91 at a track meet in Spain in April. A powerful athlete, who seems to shift effortlessly through the gears, he will head to Paris knowing he has the footspeed to step back on to the podium, but which step will it be?
Morgan Pearson, USA
Despite becoming an Olympic silver medallist after anchoring the US to second place in the mixed team relay in Tokyo, Morgan Pearson is still a relative newcomer to triathlon.
The American has continued to turn heads since arriving on the scene. He grew up as a competitive swimmer and an impressive cross-country runner, and in 2018 competed in a series of ITU World Cup races and the World Triathlon Grand Final on the Gold Coast.
While only finishing 41st in the latter, he demonstrated his running power, with only five of the top six finishers running faster than his time of 30:35.
His breakout races came in 2021 just before the delayed Tokyo Games. A third place in Yokohama – where his run time of 29:38 was the second fastest on the day – sealed his Olympic qualification, before a second-place in Leeds with the second fastest run split (30:04) showed it was no fluke.
Pearson rounded off the year with a half-marathon personal best of 1:01:47 in South Carolina, and although he has been troubled by injury in the intervening years, has been on the up since last year’s Paris test event.
It was on the streets of the French capital where he got a last-minute start for the race and finished sixth to secure a second Olympic qualification thanks to a 10km split of 29:18. He then won on a tough course in Karlovy Vary, Hungary (31:37), the heat of Miami (31:29) and, most recently, his first WTCS victory in Yokohama, Japan (29:11).
Pearson can blow hot or blow out, but when he’s on the charge and has the scent of the podium, it feels like almost no-one in the sport is able to stop him.
Best of the rest
While the three men above are supreme runners, a number of other athletes are also known for their ability over 10k too.
Defending Olympic champion Blummenfelt (NOR) should not be written off for the one-off occasion.
The French trio of Dorian Coninx, Léo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre all ran under 29:30 in the test event and have proven consistency.
Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça is improving every season and came second to Yee in Paris with a 29:15 split.
Tim Hellwig won’t be on many people’s radar, but he is the fastest of the Germans and has a WTCS win to his name from Hamburg three years ago.
The fastest men’s 10km runs at past Olympic triathlons
Tokyo 2021: Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 29:34
Rio 2016: Richard Murray (RSA) 30:34
London 2012: Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 29:07
Beijing 2008: Jan Frodeno (GER) 30:45
Athens 2004: Hunter Kemper (USA) 31:51
Sydney 2000: Simon Whitfield (CAN) 30:52
Who are the fastest female triathlete runners racing in Paris?
Beth Potter, Great Britain
While the Tokyo Olympics – and particularly the team selection in the autumn of 2019 – came just too early in Beth Potter’s switch from track to tri to her to be a contender, she certainly is now.
Recurring injuries stopped the Scot ever truly fulfilling her potential on the track, but with a 10km personal best of 32:03:45 and an appearance at the Rio Olympics over 25 laps, she certainly had it in spades.
The fastest run splits in her first two World Triathlon races over the sprint distance set a pattern to continue, and as Potter’s swimming – and particularly cycling – developed, the speedy final leg splits helped turn performances into podiums.
Crowned European champion in 2019 in the Netherlands with a run split (33:23) more than 30sec faster than anyone else, Potter’s first World Cup win came in 2020 and a first WTCS podium in 2022.
Last year she really came into her own. WTCS wins in Abu Dhabi (running 16:46 over 5.16km), Montreal (16:08 over 5km), the Paris test event (32:57 over 10km) and then the Grand Final in Pontevedra (33:26 over 10km), landed the 32-year-old the world title and marked her out as currently the two fastest runner in the sport, alongside great rival Cassandre Beaugrand.
As she heads for Paris, Potter knows that the French favourite is not the only threat, and she will be doing everything possible to make sure mind and body are in the right place to have a crack at Olympic glory.
- Paris 2024: “It’s been plain sailing” says GB’s Beth Potter on her build-up to her first Olympic triathlon
Cassandre Beaugrand, France
Unlike Potter, Cassandre Beaugrand was raised as a triathlete and began competing in World Triathlon competition as far back as 2012. Like Potter, it was 2023 that proved that her outstanding potential would be fulfilled.
A graceful runner, Beaugrand first came to global triathlon recognition in 2018 after winning over the sprint distance in Hamburg with a race-best 5km run of 15:48. While she struggled to capitalise on that victory for a few years, the multiple French national champion was part of the quartet that won a historic first Olympic medal for her country in Tokyo.
Beaugrand won another sprint-distance WTCS race in Leeds in 2022 and had two more last year in Hamburg and Sunderland as she vied with Potter for the world title. In the test event she ran 33:07 for the final 10km – 10secs slower than the Brit – but close enough to raise expectations for the end of this month.
That possibility of a first French Olympic gold was lifted further when Beaugrand won a WTCS race over the standard or Olympic distance of 1.5km-40km-10km for the first time in Sardinia in May. Clocking a 33:09 split and beating Potter in the process, was the ideal boost heading into Paris.
Lisa Tertsch, Germany
A lesser known name on the circuit, but an emerging threat and one of a trio of women from Germany headed to Paris with the strength in depth to rival almost any nation.
This season, Lisa Tertsch ran faster than any other woman in Yokohama (32:49), including USA’s renowned flyer Gwen Jorgensen, to run herself into the top 10. Then there was an even more impressive 33:08 over the final 10km to finish sandwiched between Beaugrand and Potter and take her first WTCS podium in Cagliari.
The results built on a continental cup victory in March in Quarteira, Portugal, where again the 25-year-old posted the fastest run split (34:19) and where she did get the better of Beaugrand.
Perhaps significantly, Tertsch was also part of the German quartet who won the test event mixed team relay in Paris. A significant factor in that race was that it was turned into a run-bike-run duathlon due to water quality in the Seine, allowing Tertsch to show off her running even more – finishing her leg of the race faster than every other female in the field except Beaugrand.
Best of the rest
There are plenty more fleet-footed women in the field, including France’s Yokohama WTCS winner Léonie Périault and Germany’s former junior and U23 world champion Laura Lindemann.
If returning Olympic champion Flora Duffy can rediscover her form after injury, she will be quick over the final leg, while Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown is another who suffered from injury in 2023, but has long been one of the sport’s best runners, particularly following a hard bike leg.
Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair is also fast, having shown it in supertri as well as World Triathlon racing and with no relay to worry about, will be all-in for the individual race.
Finally, Taylor Knibb is an interesting prospect on the run. Primarily known for her bike strength – and she is also taking part in the cycling road time-trial in Paris – she would still be more suited to a breakaway on the bike leg, but her run times have been dropping in races too.
The fastest women’s 10km runs at past Olympic triathlons
Tokyo 2021: Flora Duffy (BER) 33:00
Rio 2016: Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 34:09
London 2012: Nicola Spirig (SUI) 33:41
Beijing 2008: Emma Snowsill (AUS) 33:16
Athens 2004: Kate Allen (AUT) 33:47
Sydney 2000: Stephanie Forrester (GBR) 34:23
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Tim Heming
Freelance triathlon journalist 
