U.S. Elite Triathlete Morgan Pearson Wins World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama

Taylor Knibb earns silver, Taylor Spivey fourth in Yokohama at final Olympic auto-qualification opportunity. Final U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team spots to be filled via discretion.

YOKOHAMA, Japan — U.S. elite triathlete and Olympic Games Paris 2024 qualifier Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.) won gold at the 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama race on Saturday, May 11, becoming the first U.S. man to win a World Triathlon Series event since 2009.

The race, held on a sunny and breezy Saturday in Yokohama, Japan, was the final opportunity for U.S. elite triathletes to auto-qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The day ended with no new U.S. athletes qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and two podium finishes by athletes already qualified for this summer’s Olympics — Pearson with his historic win and Taylor Knibb (Boulder, Colo.) with a silver in the elite women’s race. Both had already qualified for this summer’s Olympics at the 2023 World Triathlon Paris Test Event last August.

With no athletes qualifying on Saturday in Yokohama, the remaining team spots for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team will be filled by the Olympic Games Athlete Selection Panel via Discretionary Selection. The U.S. will field a team of three women and two men.

All Olympic Team nominations are pending final approval by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The full U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team will be announced in June, following the next World Triathlon Championship Series race in Cagliari, Italy, on May 25 and the close of the Olympic Qualification window on May 27. 

Read here for more information about U.S. qualification procedures for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

A Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist in the Mixed Relay, Pearson came to Yokohama with three World Triathlon Championship Series medals to his name — but never a gold. With a commanding run and a strong final kick, Pearson ran his way to his first WTCS gold and the first Series gold medal by a U.S. male since Jarrod Shoemaker won gold in 2009 in Hamburg.

“I knew I could win one of these, but these guys are beasts and training just as hard as me,” Pearson said. “Everyone wants to win. You can be in the shape of your life and still have things go wrong or someone be fitter. You just have to show up and give it your best and today my best was good enough. Last year I had some back problems and I did Miami (this March) to do an Olympic-distance race and test my health rather than (racing) Abu Dhabi. This is a nice way to start the season, but of course we all know who is missing today and it’s still a long way to Paris.”

Pearson completed the 1,500-meter swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10k run in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 5 seconds, while running the field’s fastest 10k in 29:11. He finished the swim among a group of 20 athletes, 13 seconds down from the leader. After a swift transition, Pearson settled into the lead pack on the bike that eventually swelled to more than 50 athletes that included all five U.S. athletes: Pearson, Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.), Darr Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) and Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.).

The U.S. group avoided danger on the final lap of the bike that saw a crash and large pileup of more than 15 athletes who hit the pavement, including France’s Dorian Coninx and Tom Richard, and Vasco Vilaca of Portugal.

Pearson then overcame a slow bike-to-run transition to methodically pick off runners one by one to make his way to the front by the second lap. Pearson commanded the front of the race, pushed by Australia’s Matthew Hauser on the final lap, but a late surge cemented the win for the former NCAA All-American runner.

McElroy, also a talented former NCAA All-American runner, ran his way to 13th place. Smith and Rider finished 25th and 26th.

Knibb has a history of winning medals in Yokohama. It was in Yokohama in 2021 when Knibb had a breakthrough performance, winning gold and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the youngest U.S. triathlete to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team at 23 years old. At the Tokyo Olympics, Knibb won a silver medal in the Mixed Relay.

On Saturday in Yokohama, Knibb displayed her strong bike skills by taking charge to lead the bike pack, along with fellow U.S. athletes Taylor Spivey (Manhattan Beach, Calif) and Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.). The trio finished among the leaders out of the water and formed the lead bike group of about 15 riders, including Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Flora Duffy of Bermuda, who raced on Saturday in Yokohama for the first time since November of 2022.

Coming off the bike, it was France’s Leonie Periault who ran away from the group, quickly establishing a pace too hot for Knibb and company to handle. She’d cruise to the win in a time of 1:52:28.

Knibb, meanwhile withstood a surge from France’s Emma Lombardi to outkick her down the blue carpet for the silver in 1:53:04.

Spivey finished in fourth, just 13 seconds away from the podium (1:53:25) and a qualifying berth to her first Olympic Games. Coming into Yokohama ranked No. 4 in the world, Spivey is one of the most consistent performers on the circuit, with two podium finishes during the 2023 season —bronze medals in Abu Dhabi and Cagliari. She was proud of her performance on Saturday.

“I knew there were a lot of strong runners in our bike pack. To come off the bike and be in the mix with them was really reassuring after, you know, finishing the year with a stress reaction and starting the year with a few sicknesses that set me back in training,” Spivey said. “So I know I still have a long way to go, but I’m really happy to see that I’m headed in the right direction.”

Kasper also came close to punching her ticket to Paris, placing fifth in 1:53:34. By placing second, fourth, and fifth, the U.S. was the only country on Saturday to place three women in the top 10.

Olympic gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.) placed 15th, recording the field’s second-fastest 10k (32:56). Jorgensen, who won Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics, returned to the sport of triathlon in late 2022 with the goal of making her third Olympic team.

The full men’s and women’s elite races are available to watch on demand on TriathlonLIVE.tv.

2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama

1. Leonie Periault (FRA), 1:52.28

2. Taylor Knibb (Boulder, Colo.), 1:53.04

3. Emma Lombardi (FRA), 1:53.08

4. Taylor Spivey (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 1:53:25

5. Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.), 1:53:34

15. Gwen Jorgensen (Boulder, Colo.), 1:54:42

49. Summer Rappaport (Thornton, Colo.), 2:00:50

1. Morgan Pearson (New Vernon, N.J.), 1:42:05

2. Matthew Hauser (AUS), 1:42:12

3. Luke William (AUS), 1:42:20

13. Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.), 1:43.12

25. Darr Smith (Atlanta, Ga.), 1:44.01

26. Seth Rider (Germantown, Tenn.), 1:44.09

47. Kevin McDowell (Geneva, Ill.), 1:48.19

USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 3,500 events and races and connects with and supports more than 300,000 unique active members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.