After being side-lined by injury halfway through the 2022 calendar, Connor Bentley had to put his season on hold and deal with an uncertain future. Months later, he was crowned national and U23 world champion.

Ever since witnessing Alistair Brownlee make history in the London Olympics at the age of 11, Bentley knew triathlon was his future. Fast forward a decade of hard work and his career is really kicking off as he breaks onto the senior international stage.

Reflecting on his achievements in 2021, which included both national and European podiums along with representing GB in the mixed relay at World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg, Bentley said: “2021 was a bit of a whirlwind to be honest. I’d just come back from lockdown and no racing. I didn’t really have much expectation for myself. I was just going to go and race.

“Every race I did opened up a new door for me. It started with the qualifiers for Europeans. I raced that and realised what kind of form I was in. When I raced Europeans, all I wanted to do was compete, I ended up getting bronze there. That was a big eye opener, that all the work I’d done had paid off. I can now start to look ahead at these big races. That was when I got the call for Hamburg, which was surreal.”

Bentley brought home sixth position as the anchor leg in the Hamburg, with it being the first time he’d been chosen to represent his country on a global senior stage. “It was quite odd because that was the first time I’d done a World Series. I raced alongside a few of my friends. To me, it was awesome that it was on such a big stage. To be able to do it with people that are my mates, it just made it better. I felt comfortable and was able to enjoy it.”

When an injury derailed his season last year, Bentley took his training back to the basics with the help of his coaching team and family’s support.

“Last season was a bit of a nightmare. I was in good shape again like I was in 2021. Then, I started to get a bit of pain in my shins. I talked to my physio about it, and we got it scanned. It came back that I had a bilateral stress in my shins and that was season over.

“It meant that I was going to miss out on potentially qualifying for Commies [Birmingham Commonwealth Games],but looking at the grand scheme of things, it’s that progress over the next few years that really benefitted from me taking my time coming back from this injury. Just being able to talk to my parents and my mum especially; she’s been injured while she was running competitively. It’s nice to have people there who will always support me and can supply me with knowledge that it does get better.”

Gaining a place on the World Class programme for the first time in 2022, Bentley was able to lean on the guidance of the performance team in Loughborough. This funding from the National Lottery assists athletes towards achieving their potential in the sport, which Bentley has also secured for the 2023 season.

“When it comes to support, the World Class Programme’s phenomenal. There is everything and you’re right amongst it. I could go 10 minutes down the road and I’ve got physio, nutrition, the pool, track, the coaches. Everything is here and it’s so accessible. It’s a really welcoming environment to be in, which is massive when it comes to pushing yourself, because if you’re spending that much time with people, you’ve got to enjoy what you do.”

On the support throughout his injury, Bentley said: “Ollie Freeman, the physio that works for World Class, set me up with a rehab programme and I worked on strength with Matt from S&C. I was also working with Lucy, a nutritionist. Between those three, we rebuilt my training fundamentals. The biggest learning curve was that I’m almost glad I was injured, because I’ve learnt so much. By the time I got to the end of the season, I was able to put a nice block of consistent training in.”

This held him in good stead for the 2022 British Elite Triathlon Championships in Sunderland, which is home to this year’s British leg of the World Triathlon Championship Series. During the race, Bentley and fellow teammate and friend Hamish Reilly found themselves neck and neck on the finishing straight.

“I went to the British Champs and decided I’d just go and race and see if I could qualify for Worlds. It was my first race back, so I just gave it a crack. I’d only been running four or five weeks leading up to it, so I didn’t really know how I’d fare. It ended up being me and Hamish battling it out for the last bit of the run.”

It was a battle which Bentley would win, pipping Reilly by two seconds to the tape. “That was pretty cool,” Bentley smiled.

“Then, I went off to get a bit of race experience at Worlds [World Triathlon Cup races in Valencia, Tongyeong, and Miyazaki]. The races didn’t go great, but I learnt a lot. I was really grateful. That was pretty much what I wanted to do that year, just experience.

“I went to the World Finals with the same intention – just learning. Thinking I’ll come back next year and give it a proper shot. But on the day of the race, everything went to plan. It was my perfect race, which doesn’t come around often.

“One of the highlights for me was when Hamish and I came out of T2 and we were running side by side. We got a gap on the field, and it’s exactly like how it was in Sunderland. We’re both familiar with this situation. When you’ve got that on a stage that’s as big as Worlds, it’s so easy to keep your composure, and you can then execute your best race. Since then, I’ve just been knocking on more doors.”

At only 22-years-old, Bentley is as ambitious as they come. He’s got a keen awareness of the physiological processes and experience required to train and perform at the pointy end of triathlon. But perhaps more importantly, he’s patient.

“What I’m looking at for the start of the season, is performing in the European Games… if I get a start,” he said. “I want to be able to perform on the day, when I need to. That’s a big thing for me this year. Later on, I’m looking at getting a World Series start, and just going and experiencing it.

“Next year’s going to be an interesting one because it’ll play off this year. I’m going to have to see what doors open for me. Realistically, I want to be starting World Series. That has to depend on how I am towards the end of this year. I can’t step-up if I’m not ready to. I’ve got to focus on doing this year right, to then move it forwards next year.

“Looking five years down the line, I want to be at the front of World Series. I want to be competing with the guys at the top and getting my name down for LA [Olympics]. I started the sport because I wanted to be on the top step of a world champs podium. I want to perform at the Olympics.”

Find out which athletes are part of the 2023 National Lottery Funded World Class Programme by reading the article here.