Adrien Briffod

Nevertheless, Briffod’s resume and his ability to bounce back from setbacks including injury and Olympic non-selection, suggest he should never be counted out.

From being crowned Swiss junior champion in 2013, the 29-year-old has delivered a string of results over the past decade that continues to underline his potential.

A strong bike-runner, in 2015 he finished second in his national duathlon championship behind veteran Ruedi Wild before travelling to Kyiv to grab a runner-up spot in a European Cup race. 

A fourth place behind 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Sven Riederer in the national sprint distance championship the same year gave the then 21-year-old more momentum to keep improving.

By then Brifford was already mixing it with the sport’s best at the top level World Series events before a run of performances in the early summer of 2017 – second in a European Cup race in Gran Canaria and seventh on the World Series in Japan – culminated with a first World Cup win in Cagliari, beating Olympic bronze medallist Henri Schoeman in a race that also saw Alex Yee have a near career-ending bike crash.

Eighth in Abu Dhabi was the pick of the World Series results the following year with the next win coming in 2019 in a European Cup race in Spain. That was the year Brifford finally claimed the Swiss national sprint title and achieved a creditable 15th place in front of a home crowd in the World Series Grand Final in Lausanne.

While he was bitterly disappointed to miss selection for the Tokyo Olympics, Brifford returned stronger than ever and a fifth place at the Championship Finals in Edmonton in 2021 proved a point to the federation as he finished the season ranked 11th overall.

Unfortunately, he was brought back to earth with a bump as he crashed out of his next race in Karlovy Vary, before a more serious incident when racing in Arzachena in Italy in May 2022 resulted in a broken scapula and two broken ribs. Once again he was able to overcome adversity and by the end of the season was back competing at the top level.

Last year there was another confidence-boosting win in a European Cup race in Alanya, Turkey and despite receiving a broken nose after getting hit by a car when crossing the road, 2023 also started strongly with third place in the European Championships in Madrid in a race that was turned into a duathlon due to the water quality, and another podium in the European Games in Poland.

Since then Briffod has continued to be competitive at the top level, with a 19th place in the World Series in Sunderland and he’ll head into his first taste of Super League Triathlon action confident he can make an impact for Tim Don’s Santara Tech Eagles as they look to regain the team title from Bahrain Victorious Scorpions.