Paris 2024: “It’s been plain sailing” says GB’s Beth Potter on her build-up to her first Olympic triathlon

Athletes have tried to transition to triathlon before, but Beth Potter, a 10,000m Olympian from Rio 2016, had her work cut out.

By the end of 2017, she would be 26 years old and giving up her role as a physics teacher in London to go full time in swim, bike and run without any funding support from the British Triathlon Federation. 

To compound the difficulty, the Scot, while an excellent swimmer in her youth, had limited experience riding a road bike and after moving her life to new surroundings in Leeds, would be trying to compete for an Olympic place on the strongest women’s team in the multisport world.

“They had to pick me”

Roll forward to Paris 2024, and the picture could not be more contrasting. Potter is the reigning world champion and the only British woman to hit the exacting qualification standards required to guarantee a place on the Olympic pontoon.

It granted the leeway to train without the pressure of having to first focus on the Cagliari leg of the World Series in May that would help determine her teammates. 

“I took it out of the selectors hands, they had to pick me,” Potter says, citing a house renovation as probably the most challenging part of the past few months.

“It’s the best outcome. Qualifying was an emotional rollercoaster, but luckily I achieved it last year, which means fully focusing on the job I need to do in July.”

Luck wasn’t the determining factor, though. In winning the test event in Paris and following it with victory in the World Series grand final in Pontevedra to claim the world title, the spot was just reward for a dominant season that built on previous years of winning a European title in 2019, Commonwealth bronze in 2022 and earning World Series podiums. 

“Even waiting to find out who else is on the team has given me a bit of anxiety, and I’m already selected,” she adds. “I can’t imagine what they’ve gone through, it’s just nice to have it in the bag.”

The Paris target

When Potter first moved to triathlon, Paris ’24 was the target given the time it would take to embed a volume-heavy training regime in Leeds built on hours of swimming and cycling.

The Tokyo Olympics were always likely to come too early, especially with the entire team selected in 2019 for a race that ultimately didn’t take place until 18 months later.  

Potter has steadily built a team around her, including coach-turned-mentor Jack Maitland, and Alistair Brownlee as a confidante, and likes to keep everything as uncomplicated as possible.

She will fly into Paris on Friday ahead of the individual race on Wednesday, and won’t be spending time at altitude either – something the Brownlees did with great success in Switzerland ahead of 2012 and 2016.

“I’m staying in Leeds. I figured I’ve got everything I need here, including my training partners, physio and my dog,” Potter adds.

“I’m happiest here. It’s what I know, I did the same prep last year, and confidence is the biggest thing. There have been little niggly things along the way, but I’m chipping away and it’s been plain sailing to be honest.”


That confidence should be high. Potter excelled on the Olympic course last year in defeating home favourite Cassandra Beaugrand – running a 32:57 final 10km to break her French rival’s resistance in the final few hundred metres. 

Different dynamics

This time she it may take something faster, but with Tokyo gold and silver medallists, Flora Duffy and Georgia Taylor-Brown, returning after missing the test event through injury, and USA’s cycling hotshot Taylor Knibb eyeing a medal and not top eight qualification, the race dynamics could be very different.

Potter will first go to a sprint-distance race in Hamburg, building from winning the indoor Supertri Arena Games and e-tri world championship in April and then placing third in Cagliari WTCS; a podium finish behind Beaugrand and Germany’s Lisa Tertch that left her unfazed after sickness in the build-up.

“I’m really happy with it. I had a bumpy run into the race and was thinking of pulling out. I had a solid swim, my biking is clearly in a good place, and my run didn’t feel amazing but was hampered by illness.

“Had the race been a week later, it would have been a different story, but I was proud of myself for sticking in when it got tough – 10km felt like a very long run.”

Potter has openly admitted to nerves before races in the past, but is coping much better since working with sports psychologist Bill Beswick, whose clients have included Adam Peaty and David Beckham. Part of the preparation is memorising a checklist of key points that help her stay present at key moments in the race.

“I feel quite at ease knowing I’ve done everything I can. Sure, as it gets closer the nerves ramp up, but I’ve had a bad result at the Olympics before, so whatever the outcome I can deal with it. I’ll stand at the start knowing I’ve done everything possible and be at peace with it.”

220’s prediction for Beth Potter in Paris

Potter’s brilliance has been the way she’s found out what works and kept it consistently simple. As she looks to repeat and build on the processes of 2023, there is every chance she will be rewarded with individual gold.