Potter eyes world title after ‘toll’ of Olympics

Beth Potter, who is aiming to win her second world triathlon title on Sunday, claims she has less pressure this year.

Before the final event in Australia, the British Olympic bronze medalist leads France’s defending champion Cassandre Beaugrand in joint-leadership with the British Olympic bronze medalist.

Potter acknowledged the strain caused by the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Scottish triathlete, 33, said, “I was going in as one of the favorites to win Olympic gold and there was a lot of pressure and expectation on that one day.”

“It was really difficult, and last year I felt like I could never really get back into my groove.”

Because it wasn’t in training, I struggled when I got off the bike and felt like I was running. It was really frustrating.

It just illustrates how much pressure I put on myself to win a medal that year. I don’t believe I ever dug as deep as I did in the Olympic race, which helped me greatly if I only managed to win the bronze medal.

Before the roles were changed last year, she won the World Triathlon Championship Series from Beaugrand in 2023.

Potter tried a new coaching regimen this year, and he spent nearly a month in St Moritz, Switzerland, at altitude.

“I just never found that aspect of my running to be that easy last year, and that’s what I’ve always relied on to avoid problems in races.” She said, “It took longer than I thought to recover from that Olympic race.”

It took me a good few months of off-season before returning to the new season to actually believe I wanted to be on the start line and race, and enjoy it, even just to enjoy doing triathlons once more. Because it is my job and livelihood, that was a lot of work for me.

It took me a while to get used to some new training when I first started the year, and part of it was mentally recovering from the trauma my previous year had endured. I’m trying something a little different with the new training techniques, which I really like. The lowest risk year to try something is now.

Although Potter and Beaugrand share 2, 925 points, Potter insists that Sunday’s Wollangong finale is “not a two-horse race.”

With 1, 250 points on offer to the winner of Australia, Jeanne Lehair leads the chase pack by more than 200 points, ahead of Lisa Tertsch and Leonie Periault.

She will remember Sam O’Shea when Potter pushes past the finish line. He passed away last month while cycling in France after being struck by a motorbike.

Just days after winning the first of two races this season in the Czech Republic, she found inspiration in the tragedy.

She said, “A lot of it was to do it because I could and there was some extra motivation because of Sam,” when I was really hurting in that race and was a minute behind when I came off the bike.

“It would be nice to do the same this weekend, but I just want to go out and enjoy it because I can.”

O’Shea, 27, a partner of fellow triathlete Lucy Byram, was a member of the Leeds, England, triathlon team that represented Gibraltar at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“That race was a difficult couple of days,” she said. Sam made up the majority of our training team. He was a bike mechanic who frequently cleaned my bikes out as one of the coaches poolside. She said, “I spent many happy mornings with him on rides in the cafe.”

He was enjoyable to be around and very dry. He was a wonderful supporter, generous, and would always go above and beyond to assist others. He will be greatly missed.

Just seeing how devastating it had been, especially for his loved ones, made me and the rest of the team feel emotional. Really tragic, really.

It made me realize that there is only one shot in life and that it is truly precious.

Potter has no immediate goals set for the Los Angeles Olympics of 2028, which is likely to be his long-term goal after the weekend.

“I’m adjusting my season.” She said, “I’ll get Sunday out of the way first.”

In this sport, I’ve accomplished more than I anticipated. Nothing will compare to the strain I experienced last year. It almost seems a relief that it is 2025.