As a test run for the 2025 World Triathlon Championship finals, the Wollongong World Cup certainly paid off. The men's and women's races were lively and the crowd was buzzing with excitement. If the return to Wollongong is anything like what we saw over the weekend, it will be a great culmination of the 2025 season.
The Wollongong World Cup also had a more immediate kind of impact. Following the men's and women's races, the Olympic qualifying rankings changed again. With just a month left until the end of the qualifying period, changes in the rankings could have a significant impact on some players' hopes in Paris.
Men's Olympic ranking
The biggest change came to the home Australian team. Race winner Luke Willian (Australia) rose six places to 41st in the Olympic qualification rankings. Additionally, his compatriots Brandon Copeland and Jacob Birtwhistle have moved up one and seven places, respectively, and currently sit in 38th and 53rd place.
Australia's best hope is that two of them break into the top 30 and earn the third men's Olympic starting spot alongside Matthew Hauser. Willian, Copeland, Birtwhistle and Napier World Cup winner Callum McCluskey will all have to be watched closely in the coming weeks.
Another notable change was brought about by Gabor Fardum (HUN). His 9th place finish at the Wollongong Games increased his Olympic ranking by four places to 31st. Hungary already has three players in the top 30 and has provisionally secured three Olympic berths. Still, Fardum's rise has added welcome depth to the Hungarian team. If he moves up further, it will provide insurance against a drop in the rankings by his compatriots. In addition, the selection process for the Hungarian Olympic team will intensify.
Richard Murray (NED) was another athlete who made remarkable strides. He moved up eight places into the top 50 of the rankings and remained in 49th place.
Women's Olympic ranking
Ainsley Thorpe (New Zealand) was the only woman to threaten the top 30 in the Olympic rankings after the Wollongong World Cup. Her bronze medal-winning performance moved her up four places to 30th place. But with New Zealand not having a third woman in the top 30, Thorpe's move may have a modest impact on her country's hopes of becoming the third woman to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Wollongong's silver medalist Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto (COL) has made a big jump in the rankings. She moved up her 11 places and is currently in 46th place. Team World Triathlon members are therefore almost guaranteed to qualify for the Olympics.
One person you can't ignore is race winner Tilda Munson (SWE). The young star has also moved up 11 places in the rankings and is currently in 61st place. Like Velasquez, she is now secretly confident of securing a ticket to Paris.
Erika Hawley (BER), Tereza Zimovyanova (CZE), and Romana Gaidshova (SVK) also saw similar gains. With his top-five finish, Holly moved up seven spots. She currently ranks 57th in the rankings and is very close to winning a ticket to Paris. Zimovyanova moved up five places, placing her in 65th place and within sight of qualifying for Paris. Meanwhile, Team World Triathlon member Gaidshova has moved up six places to 80th place, closing in on qualifying for the Olympics.
With the World Cup and WTCS races taking place in April and May, a lot can still change in the Olympic rankings. So players like Manson, Zimovyanova, Gaidshová, and maybe Holy can still be devoured by the rise of others. Therefore, every finish in the coming weeks could have a significant impact on many athletes' Olympic hopes.
Stay up to date on the drama, rises and falls through TriathlonLive.tv and the World Triathlon social channels. You can see the latest men's rankings here and women's rankings here.
