Daniela Ryf and Jan Frodeno are thought about by lots of to be the best of perpetuity (GOAT) when it concerns long-course triathlon.
Swiss super star Ryf is a five-time IRONMAN World Champion and five-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion. She controlled the sport in unbelievable style in between 2014-2019 before protecting her 5th full-distance crown in 2022.
German legend Frodeno, on the other hand, declared a quartet of IRONMAN World Championships, a set of 70.3 World crowns and was the Olympic Champion in 2008. Both are now retired with their locations in triathlon history guaranteed.
In the most current the newest Triathlon Hour podcast, host Jack Kelly included a 3rd name to the GOAT discussion– none other than existing United States super star Taylor Knibb. What did Taylor make of that lofty contrast?
Taylor Knibb, Kat Matthews and Ashleigh Gentle base on the podium after the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand (Photo– Fiona Goodall, Getty Images for IRONMAN). Knibb unequalled at middle range
Knibb obviously declared her 3rd successive IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship crown in 2024 and was unbeaten in 6 races throughout the year. Her efficiencies made her the PTO # 1 World Ranking area at the end of the year and likewise the crown of T100 World Champion.
Going back to October 2022, the United States super star has 10 wins from 10 races over middle range. She has actually made over 100 PTO points in each of her last 5 getaways, although she fasted to applaud her fellow rivals for assisting up her ratings.
“I believe it's much easier to accomplish a greater rating on the females's side due to the fact that our rankings are getting greater,” she argued.
“We keep pressing them up so our SOF (strength of field) gets greater every race– so it's raising ball games each time.”
The 26-year-old likewise protected the T100 Tour in relation to PTO World Rankings. She explained that it is possible to reach world top without success in the PTO's flagship series.
“I wish to offer the T100 a little bit of defense mechanism as individuals state its simply this self-fulfilling prediction. I believe the 2 greatest PTO ratings of the year will be Laura Philipp at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice (102.71) and mine at 70.3 Worlds (102.82 ).
“Which suggests if you were me at 70.3 Worlds, you won Nice like Laura did and you had a race like I did at Oceanside 70.3, you might be ranked top on the planet without completing in the PTO T100– that requires to be kept in mind.”
Taylor Knibb– won 4 T100 races in 2024 consisting of in Las Vegas [Photo credit: PTO]
Does Taylor believe she's GOAT deserving?
After a scintillating 12 months, it is difficult to argue that Knibb has the prospective to one day decrease in history as one of the best ever to toe the line.
