This week’s Paris Test Event marks another step on the qualification road for next summer’s Olympic Games for the British triathletes hoping to be on the start line, but Sophie Coldwell is taking this race as if it were any other event.
She said: “It’s a big race, but it’s just another race. I kind of have to forget about the Olympic selection point of it.
“I can only do the best I can do on the day and if that’s good enough then it’s good enough and if it’s not, there’s other opportunities later in the year and next year to try and prove that I’m worthy of a spot.
“If I’m fortunate enough to qualify for next year, I think having raced on the course and knowing the demands of it, knowing you can visualise that through training and if there’s points where you think I was really bad at that, or this could definitely be improved, then it gives you a whole year to do those things. I definitely think that having an opportunity to go round it, if I’m there next year is a bonus.”
However, the 28-year-old admits that qualifying this year would make for better preparations.
“The whole year was kind of set up about trying to qualify for the Olympics,” she explained. “Obviously there are opportunities next year to qualify but I think securing a spot this year would be a real benefit in that you don’t have the pressure of doing that next year. You can gear your whole winter and the beginning of next year about trying to perform at the Olympics.”
Coldwell has put in some great performances so far this year and boasts a gold medal at 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) Yokohama as well as a silver medal at WTCS Abu Dhabi. Her maiden WTCS win in Japan came as a shock though.
She explained: “I have been doing triathlon for a very long time, and World Series, outside of Championships, is the pinnacle of our sport and I haven’t been on that many World Series podiums.
“My mind set hadn’t switched from how do I get from podiums to winning them, I was still over the moon with a podium at the end of the day, so to win was out of the blue, it was unexpected and it would definitely be a highlight of the year and probably my career.”
In the build up the Test Event, Coldwell has joined the British team at a training camp in France and enjoys the camp experience.
She said: “Having the camp environment is just an opportunity to take away the stresses you have at home. I love being at home because it’s the routine you know, that you’re used to, and you have your home comforts. But when you get close to racing, coming out of that environment all you have to worry about is training.
“It’s not something that I could do for very long as I love being at home, but for one or two weeks pre a key race it really does have its benefits.
“Plus we’re really fortunate that we have more than one centre in the UK. I am based in Loughborough, there’s those in Leeds and people outside of the centres as well, so I think it gives an opportunity for everyone to come together and train with people you don’t train with all the time and see friends that you don’t see all the time.
“It’s not just about the training it’s about the relationships you have with each other and bringing them together in this environment.”
Coldwell’s race is on Thursday 17 July and is joined in the Elite Women’s field by fellow Brits Beth Potter, Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias. You can read the full start list here. The race starts at 7:00 and is live on Triathlon Live.
