Triathlete Erica Hawley is testing herself against the best in the world in Japan just days before the qualification process opens for the 2028 Olympics.

From Monday the planet’s top triathletes will earn points for every performance as they vie for a spot on the starting line in Los Angeles, but their finishing position in WTCS Yokohama (10.15pm Bermuda time tonight) will go a long way to informing where they stand in the pecking order.

A stacked field has headed to Asia and Hawley, who competed for Bermuda at the 2024 Games in Paris, knows that this is the last time she will be racing for a couple of years without the weight of another Olympic dream weighing heavily upon her.

“Although Olympic qualification actually starts the Monday after Yokohama, a lot of the season favourites are still racing,” Hawley said.

“This is a good opportunity to see where I am at WTCS level after making some changes in the off-season and I’m hoping to use it as a benchmark leading into the Olympic points races.

“The race calendar is very busy for the 2026 season and it’s pretty impossible to hit every race. It’s great that the sport is growing and there are multiple opportunities to race but as an athlete it almost makes my life more difficult as I want to make the smart decision on which races to do, to choose not to and focus on a training block.

“My plan for the rest of the year is to roughly race around eight more times and primarily focus on early Olympic points at World Cup races.”

Hawley finished 28th in this race last year after completing the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km swim in 1hr 55min 37sec and that will give her a good guide as to her condition this time around.

“I raced Yokohama last year and the course is the same so that allows me to use data points from last year and then improve them,” she said.

“Particularly, I want to run a lot more consistent over 10km and fuel more in this race.

“I’ve been able to put in a pretty solid training block since Gulfport [March 27] and I only decided to race Yokohama after that so it was somewhat of a late decision and we shifted to a focus on my first Olympic distance race of the year.

“I haven’t raced most of the women since Wollongong in October, so it will be a great test to see how I compare and hopefully put in a solid result to start the season.”

It does not matter whether you are an elite sportsperson or a couch potato, travelling across time zones will give you jet lag. Used to hauling herself halfway around the world, Hawley’s body clock will need to have reversed if she is to get the best out of herself in Japan.

“I find exercising when I land helps get me on the time zone better as sport fatigue seems to beat jetlag fatigue and then I just try not to nap. Japan is especially hard to adapt as it’s a day flight and a 15hr time difference from my base in Colorado.”