Disappointment for Birtwhistle as Paris Olympic hopes fade

The World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama represented the final chance for Australian athletes to clinch an automatic nomination for Paris with a top-eight finish.

And while Australia recorded the rare feat of claiming two podium spots, Birtwhistle had a day to forget in what has historically been one of his favourite locations.

Six years after he won a WTS silver medal in the Japanese city, the 29-year-old recorded a 'Did Not Finish' after pulling out mid-race.

Birtwhistle completed the 1500-metre swim in a competitive time of 18:25 and made it through transition but pulled the pin on the bike leg which witnessed numerous crashes on a technical 40km course.

National teammate Luke Willian produced the biggest performance of his career to finish third and secure an automatic Olympic nomination to the Australian team.

Willian finished eight seconds behind Matt Hauser who had already secured automatic nomination at last year's World Triathlon Championship Finals in Pontevedra, Spain. Hauser also won the Oceania Triathlon Standard Championships in Taupo, New Zealand.

American Morgan Pearson won in Yokohama, finishing seven seconds ahead of Hauser.

Australia holds two male and two female quota spots for the Paris Games while a ranking of fifth also guarantees a start in the mixed team relay event. Hauser and Willian will fill the two male quota spots.

Triathlon Australia said the only way the nation could gain an additional male quota position would be to have three triathletes inside the top 30 of the Olympic qualification rankings.

Hauser sits fifth and Willian 24^th with Brandon Copeland the next best at 42nd. If a third quota spot did arise, Birtwhistle would be up against Copeland and Callum McClusky through discretionary selection. He could also be taken to Paris as a reserve athlete.

Australia's Olympic triathlon team will be announced in June.

Birtwhistle has had a sound continental season, securing bronze at the Oceania Triathlon Sprint Championships in Devonport, followed by fourth in the continent's standard championships in Taupo and sixth at the World Triathlon Cup in Wollongong.

Looking ahead to his season soon after getting married in January, Birtwhistle told The Examiner: "Yokohama has been in the series as long as I've been racing and I think I've raced there seven times. I love racing there and have had some good results so I know it well and hopefully can go there and do something good this year."

He finished 16th overall as the highest-placed Australian in the individual triathlon at the Tokyo Olympics and also helped the country to a ninth-placed finish in the mixed relay.

He has a full set of Commonwealth Games medals having won team gold and individual silver on the Gold Coast in 2018 and team bronze in Birmingham four years later.