Waugh was an outstanding prospect; having started the sport aged eight she\u2019d just become the U23 world champion in Abu Dhabi. <\/p>
The problem was that with the greatest depth of talent anywhere in the world, there seemed to be just too many British women in the queue ahead of her for 2024. <\/p>
But after breakthrough performances this last summer, Waugh has put herself firmly in contention for one of the two remaining individual spots.<\/p>
Seventh in the Paris Test Event was followed by a career-high second place at the World Triathlon Grand Final<\/a><\/strong>, ending the series ranked sixth, before taking the ultra-competitive Super League crown in October. <\/p> It\u2019s been a standout run, but the 24-year-old is also no overnight success\u2026<\/p> 220<\/em>: How did you get introduced to triathlon?<\/strong><\/p> Kate Waugh:<\/strong> My dad and granddad were super into cycling so I\u2019ve grown up around bikes, I had swimming lessons and was part of a local run club. I also did gymnastics and it was there I saw a local triathlon advertised. <\/p> I was only seven or eight so we didn\u2019t swim more than about 100m, the bike was less than 1km and the run was about 4-500m. I don\u2019t think I did very well, but I was completely hooked.<\/p> 220<\/em>: What would you say are your strengths in the sport?<\/strong><\/p> KW: <\/strong>I don\u2019t have any particular standouts in the sport, but I like to think of myself as a well-rounded athlete. I hope it means that whatever the race scenario, I can be competitive. <\/p> Whether it\u2019s a super-challenging bike course, a fast bike and pure running race, or whether it\u2019s an ocean or lake swim<\/a><\/strong>, I like to think that it doesn\u2019t faze me and I can achieve a solid result.<\/p> Swim 20 x 100m<\/strong> \u201dI love faster sessions. It varies but we typically do around 2km worth of hard effort with short turnarounds.\u201d 220<\/em>: Who do you look up to in tri?<\/strong><\/p> KW: <\/strong>I was only 13 when I watched the Brownlees [Alistair<\/a><\/strong> and Jonny<\/a><\/strong>] dominate in 2012 [at the London Olympics, where they won gold and bronze, respectively]. <\/p> Those two have changed the sport, and it\u2019s inspiring to be on a similar pathway to them. I love the way they raced \u2013 hard, honest racing and that\u2019s what I hope to do going forward. <\/p> I also loved watching Helen [Jenkins]. I never raced her, but we were on a training camp in Portugal and I was watching her do some killer sessions. The first couple of times I raced on the elite circuit I was mesmerised by everyone!<\/p> 220<\/em>: What do you take from your psychology studies that has helped you in your sport?<\/strong><\/p> KW:<\/strong> I\u2019ve a year left on my psychology degree at the University of Leeds. I decided to defer this year to be all-in on qualifying for the Olympics, so I\u2019ll take up my final year at the end of 2024. <\/p> Study in general has made me organised and disciplined with time management, but I don\u2019t study sports psychology. It\u2019s more social and evolutionary psychology, so I\u2019m not sure studying Freud has really helped me in triathlon!<\/p> 220<\/em>: Why did you leave your UK training base for an international squad?<\/strong><\/p> KW: <\/strong>I\u2019d been in Leeds for five years and felt I needed a big change to find my passion for the sport again. I\u2019ve always wanted to live abroad and live that out-of-a-suitcase life travelling between training camps. <\/p> I felt really lucky to be offered a place on [coach Paulo Sousa\u2019s] international squad and it happened quite fast, I hadn\u2019t really planned it. It\u2019s going well. <\/p> I enjoy his philosophy, and British Triathlon was really supportive of my move and I can still see its support staff and network. I love the group and they are some of my best friends now inside and out of sport. I couldn\u2019t have asked for more.<\/p> 220<\/em>: How much of a help is it having partner Max Stapley in your training group, especially now he has switched allegiance to GB?<\/strong><\/p> KW:<\/strong> I\u2019d lived in the UK all my life and now we move from base to base depending on the time of year, so it\u2019s nice to have my partner with me. <\/p> He\u2019s made a positive move to British Triathlon which is really great as well. It can be hard being away from home and family, so it\u2019s nice to have that constant support there.<\/p> 220<\/em>: How much did being crowned world U23 champ mean last year?<\/strong><\/p> KW:<\/strong> It was a huge move forward for me in terms of my overall confidence and what I could achieve in the sport. It was something I wanted to do all year \u2013 to win that gold medal. <\/p> I had some complications going into the race where I missed a lot of running and we had to figure out a different way to win. We practised breakaway scenarios and I\u2019m so glad it paid off.<\/p> 220<\/em>: Can you pinpoint the reasons behind your improving form this summer?<\/strong><\/p> KW:<\/strong> I think the win at U23 worlds set the foundation because it built my confidence. But I also decided to make a step up this year to be that professional athlete who is on it with their nutrition, on time to training, and always has the equipment they need. <\/p> I think I\u2019ve morphed into the athlete I looked up to and it\u2019s really paid off. I then had the best winter of training I\u2019ve ever had which gave me a solid base to build from.<\/p> I had a bit of a back injury going into Paris, so preparation wasn\u2019t quite what I wanted but I\u2019m still happy with the result. <\/p> Pontevedra [the Grand Final] was an example of what I can do when everything goes right. It was the best triathlon I\u2019ve done in my life, and left me lost for words because I didn\u2019t see myself in this position so soon. <\/p> To podium at a grand final in my first year as an elite is super special.<\/p> 220<\/em>: How do you feel about your chances of making the GB team for the Paris Olympics?<\/strong><\/p> KW:<\/strong> I\u2019m putting everything into trying to qualify and I\u2019m not going to give up until the final selections are made. I\u2019ve definitely put my name in the hat, whereas before I was more of an outside chance. <\/p> It\u2019s an honour to have my name mentioned with the likes of Georgia Taylor-Brown<\/a><\/strong>, Sophie Coldwell<\/a><\/strong> and [now qualified] Beth Potter<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p> I\u2019ve looked up to these girls, so it\u2019s a privilege to be in that position. But someone is going to be upset and I\u2019ll do everything possible to make sure it\u2019s not me.<\/p> \u201cDo it for the love of the sport. It should be fun at a young age, so keep that healthy balance. I didn\u2019t go to all my friends\u2019 parties when I was younger, but I felt like I had the balance of being a normal 14-15-year-old girl while still trying to chase my ambitions in the sport.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/div> Top image credit: <\/strong>Super League Triathlon<\/p> By Tim Heming Published: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 at 04:27 AM This time last year, the chances of Gateshead\u2019s Kate Waugh representing Team GB at the Olympic Games in Paris looked a long shot. Waugh was an outstanding prospect; having started the sport aged eight she\u2019d just become the U23 world champion in Abu Dhabi. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27670,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"7"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-ive-definitely-put-my-name-in-the-hat-for-paris.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Tim Heming Published: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 at 04:27 AM This time last year, the chances of Gateshead\u2019s Kate Waugh representing Team GB at the Olympic Games in Paris looked a long shot. Waugh was an outstanding prospect; having started the sport aged eight she\u2019d just become the U23 world champion in Abu Dhabi.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Kate Waugh\u2019s favourite training sessions<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"GB](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2023\/12\/kate-waugh-beth-otter-pontevedra-2023.jpg\")
Kate Waugh\u2019s advice for young girls thinking about taking up triathlon<\/strong><\/h3>
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