Feisty Triathlon · Feisty Triathlon podcast

Who is going to start? A last-minute 70.3 World Championship preview

·53 min·3 clips

Lucy Charles and Taylor Knibb arrive after Kona heat issues, but nobody knows how much form they have left.

1. Feisty Triathlon previews the 70.3 World Championship in Marbella while Kelly also describes a Stanford female-athlete research meeting. 2. Kelly and Sid are the hosts, and Sid Loris joins Kelly while Joanne is at the welcome banquet in Spain and Katie has the flu. 3. The episode asks who will actually start the Marbella 70.3 World Championship and how the course and recovery from Kona may shape the result. 4. Kelly says Stanford researchers are working on female-athlete sports science, including virtual reality tools for ACL management. 5. Kelly argues that female athletes still see research done on men and says there is a “massive, massive disconnect” in sports science. 6. Kelly and Sid say younger active women are moving away from doctors and science toward TikTok, influencers, and podcasts. 7. They connect that shift to women feeling dismissed by doctors, including comments like “have you tried exercising?” 8. Kelly says academics often dismiss training with the menstrual cycle because “there’s not research.” 9. Sid and Kelly then pivot to Marbella because they are recording last-minute to catch the most up-to-date start list. 10. They expect more withdrawals between recording time and race day, especially after Kona’s toll on the women. 11. Kelly says Ironman’s new 2026 slot system was supposed to give women 25% of performance slots, but the current pattern looks far lower. 12. Kelly says the comparison itself is wrong because 54-year-old men should not be measured against 17-year-old women for a Kona slot. 13. Kelly cites Women in Tri tracking that shows 24% of overall slots went to women across the first 16 races, but only 15 performance slots did. 14. Sid says Ironman likely hears more from its existing male core base than from women, which may help explain the silence. 15. Kelly urges female age-group athletes to email Ironman directly, and Sid says that direct pressure matters more than outsiders complaining alone. 16. They mention Mark Allen’s petition and Kelly asks why he is raising it now after years of criticism. 17. Kelly and Sid describe Marbella as a 6,300-athlete event with a one-lap sea swim, a hilly but not highly technical bike, and a flat run along the waterfront. 18. Sid says the course feels very European, and Kelly notes that the later start times could leave age-group athletes racing in warmer afternoon conditions. 19. People who follow women’s triathlon, Ironman qualification, and pro race tactics will get the most from this episode. 20. People wanting only a polished race recap with no qualification-system debate may skip it.

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