BFIT explores Matthew Wright's chances at The World Triathlon Americas Triathlon Cup, 17th March

This event will attract elite triathletes from the Americas looking to increase their points scores heading into the Olympics selection process. 50-60 athletes are expected to participate with large contingents from Canada, the USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil. A significant prize purse provides added incentive.
It is a significant coup for Barbados to host this world class event. Moreso, this event will support the objective of having Barbados Olympic Triathlon hopeful Matthew Wright earn additional points for Olympic qualification.
Awarded the prestigious BOA Senior Male Athlete of the Year award in 2023, Wright has been deemed as the clear front-runner to claim the Americas male New Flag Olympic slot. With a buffer of almost 500 points, he will head into 2024 as the prohibitive favourite to claim the New Flag place.
A New Flag place at the Games is awarded to one man and one woman for each of the five continental associations. The recipient must be the highest ranked athlete from their continent and race for a country that has not already qualified an athlete of the same gender to Paris.
Currently, Wright is ranked 49th in the world. With 1888 points (rounded to the nearest integer), Wright has the second-best ranking of any man across the five New Flag races. After finishing 2nd at the Hong Kong Asia Cup recently, he has boosted his total to 1948 points and is the only New Flag contender to stand inside the top-50 of the men’s world rankings.