issue #206: Oct. 21, 2026
All-sporters, today’s newsletter is short and sweet. Getting a flu shot ahead of Kona kept my bout of the flu also short last week — actually wouldn’t have known I had the flu and not just a cold, except I took one of those over-the-counter COVID/flu tests to make sure I didn’t have COVID and, boom, turned out I had The Kona Flu — but I was still moving slow last week.
Plus, there’s not a ton going on right now. I mean there’s a ton going on in my life, but not necessarily in triathlon.
So, we’ll keep it short.
- Kelly
The dead time of year
For the first time (since the Pro Series was only invented a few years ago) the IM Pro Series is already over. There’s no 70.3 Worlds to keep us going this year. There’s no World Triathlon Grand Final Series Championship Final to look forward to. All that’s left in 2026 is the T100 champs, and no one looks forward to that except for Hayden Wilde.
It’s almost like we’re back in the old era of triathlon — with the long slow dead November and December. (Sorry, Australia, it’s true.)
All throughout Kona Week everyone kept talking about the old era, the pre-COVID dude era, breaking out the nostalgia and retro merch. Remember when races sold out in minutes too, and we also thought that trend would last forever. Good thing we never learn from the past.
I got nothing else to add to this slow time right now, other than our Big Drafting Episode of the podcast, which came out yesterday. You’re welcome.
From the races
Highlights from this past weekend and what to watch this upcoming weekend.
World Cup Beijing: It rained so hard Marta Kropko ran and biked in her goggles. (I think she forgot glasses.) And Xinyu Lin won China’s first-ever World Cup.
Cascais 70.3: Shoutout to Lizzie Rayner for winning her 3rd Cascais in a row. (Pronounced “cash-kEYE.”) If there was a race I was super good at too, I’d also try to win it every year.
Port Macquarie 70.3: Jelle Geens actually won his first race of the year, funnily.
Malaga 70.3: Felix Forissier opted not to defend his XTERRA world title this year, moved onto the road (probably because of the money, generally that’s the reason) and won a sprint to the finish in Malaga.
Results: World Triathlon World Cup - Beijing, Cascais 70.3, Port Macquarie 70.3, Malaga 70.3, Florianopolis 70.3
Mark your calendars
T100 Dubai: Women’s only (for now) on Nov. 14, start lists are out. Tim raised the point on our show this week that the men’s T100 Saudi Arabia at the end of November seems likely to be canceled/rescheduled at this point (given the big tennis tournament this week was canceled) and moving the men to Dubai two weeks earlier could be a solution…
The -ish
Some of the other things worth knowing about this week in our sports — or that I just think are interesting.
If you’ve been only loosely aware of the many various rankings systems now out there, here’s a short primer: World Triathlon rankings and Ironman Pro Series standings only consider World Triathlon and Ironman races, respectively, so aren’t considered global overall rankings. The PTO global rankings (which I feel like are widely considered the main, first, and premier ranking system) heavily weight PTO races. Which is why the PTN boys made up their own overall rankings, which less weight PTO races. The OnYerLeft boys then created TriathlonLab, which also has power rankings for pros — but more interestingly has pretty in-depth age-group rankings and age-group race analysis. And, anyway, Taylor Knibb leads all the different rankings lists, so time well spent. (World Triathlon/Ironman/PTO/PTN/TriathlonLab)
Ironman is announcing three new U.S. races this week — one 70.3 in Lake George, New York; one in Utah; and the rumor is a full coming in Montana. (Slowtwitch/Instagram)
Reportedly, Lake George is paying about $200K annually for the race. (The Post Star)
And according to Solveig’s agent’s LinkedIn she lost $1 million in that last half-mile when she dropped from 1st to 8th. As Tim said on the podcast, what reason would an agent possibly have to exaggerate. (LinkedIn/Spotify)
Jackie Hering raised the point that only the top 15 pros make any money ($3K for 15th) and most pros then lose money. She talks more about it on her post-race show. (Instagram/Youtube)
Cam Wurf had a whole blog about his Kona. (Cameron Wurf)
Lucy CB doesn’t have answers yet, and we all know how that feels. (Instagram)
Vince Luis was on The Triathlon Hour and I think it’s your standard clickbait-y headline, but Vince is always good for some one-liners. (Youtube)
Cody Beals retired. (Instagram)
At Ironman Australia, Abigail became the youngest woman to complete an Ironman on all six continents. (Facebook)
I didn’t know that there were rules allowing athletes over 70 to use neoprene shorts in the swim — however removing themselves from eligibility for awards — but I learned something new from the oldest finisher at Kona, who had to use neoprene shorts because of metal knee replacements. (Facebook)
Apparently, the Versailles 70.3 actually happened last weekend. (Instagram/Youtube)
Athletes started running on Saturday in the World Team Championship of the Backyard Ultra and they’re still running. (D Magazine)
Catherine Breed finished her 900-mile swim of the California coast. You can listen to my interview with her back before she started swimming in July 1. (New York Times/Apple Podcasts)
You can get all of Courtney Dauwalter’s updates from Kona, including that we all asked her so many times if she was going to do a triathlon that she said yes, hah. (Runner’s World)
The challenges of being a female mechanic: ‘you have to prove yourself everytime.’ (Escape Collective)
The ITA administered a doping test while the cyclist’s mother had just passed away in the room next door. Oof. (CyclingNews)
Lime bikes are not to be used for jousting. (BBC)
I’d really rather gear reviewers weren’t made-up AI generated and that the reviewers actually had used the gear. It’s almost as if no one actually wants generative AI content and has never once asked for it to exist. (Here & Thre)
Is chocolate getting shittier? (New York)