Olympic Triathlon Observations

The fourth appearance of triathlon in the Olympic Games has been run and won, in somewhat contrasting ways but each by deserving athletes…as much as any athlete can "deserve" to win, as opposed to earning a win! But semantics aside, there were observations - and conclusions - aplenty from not just the races but the lead-up also, drawn from the Australian and international athlete performances. So in no particular order here are some things I noted:

* The 3 women's medallists were all coached by Australians, two of whom work outside of any national system or program (as do their athletes) and have experienced great success through their athletes. The third coach has recently been poached by USAT, which is their gain and our loss, but he seems to be wedded to national 'systems'. The GB system (also headed by an Australian) produced the Brownlees. Does this say anything about the merits of national systems or not??...a hard question to answer, and whether athlete gender has any role in this equation.

* Further to the point above, interesting to note the counties who had multiple top-10 finshers in each race: Women: Aust, NZ  Men: GB, Franc

* Assuming an accurate course (with a 43km bike), the race winning times were fast: 1:59hr in womens and 1:46hr in mens. The quality and standard of race was befitting of the Olympics.

* The trusim that you can't win it in the swim, but you sure can lose it…was proven again. It was only a concerted effort by a strong second men's group that closed the gap to the Brownlee-Gomez group. There was no chance, in both races, of the lead group relaxing to let the chase group catch up…if you weren't there, you were no where, which ruled out many of the well fancied athletes in both races.

* Bike handling skills are as important as bike riding ability - off-camber turns, wet roads, poor surface, lots of corner, "traffic furniture", etc, were all part of the course in London, as were some falls. You need to stay on 2 wheels if you're going to be any chance.

* Any team tactics were incidental to the outcome of each race. I would have though Stuart Hayes would have worked to STOP his chase group from catching the Brownlee group, and then it was very unlikely that one team "domestique" in each race (both from GB!!) would or could have any effect on the race. Triathlon is still an individual sport.

* Both run legs were drag races, without any notable surges, tactics or change in pace. The speed of the first km in the men's race was astounding, and established the podium. Alistair Brownlee led the whole way and literally ran the others into the dirt. As a consequence, the time gaps in the top-10 in each race were a little wider than in the regular World Triathlon Series races.

* The women's finish was spectacular, and was heading towards a sprint finish from about mid-way through the run leg. Training to kick is very hard to do - generally you can either kick or you can't, and the women who featured are proven sprint finishers in recent years, including the current World Triathlon Series.

* Gomez was out sprinted in Beijing, but in London his run leg was better so that it didn't come down to that. His strength is his strength, not his sprint, so he improved that rather than trying to develop his weakness, to avoid being in a sprint situation. I'm guessing he is perhaps a 60sec faster runner now than then. Brownlee was plain out run in Beijing, but just a year later was dominating
This might be a lesson for Densham in looking ahead to Rio.

* The best runners also look like the best runners because of the way they move. Not only quickest over the ground, their fundamental running biomechanics are the most sound, and most efficient, and stand up best under extreme pressure. Plus they have the raw running speed, endurance, and strength. Their road 10km time on a twisting, turning course was near to world class.

* I'm speculating with this point…but would suggest that for the gold medallists this was their peak race in a four-year cycle, as opposed to the peak race for the year, ie, it was a higher pinnacle of performance. Taking that strategic approach of continual improvement, over the long term, often separates the very good from the great. They take hits and losses as part of the journey, with the main prize being the important thing.

* Alistair Brownlee's comeback from a (reportedly) serious Achilles injury this year is remarkable. Writing at the time on this, I doubted that he would or could. That he did, and won on the run, is remarkable.

* Where to now for Australia's high performance?? The women are pretty good, but apart from Densham this year, have been hit-and-miss for a couple of years. The men are not looking so good, and there's not really anyone obvious in the pipeline who is looking like a top-5 prospect. We have a national program, but I wonder what is different to the the successful countries who ARE producing top triathletes?

* Finally, the gold medallists and the races they had, will be talked about for years. They now own the very top prize in triathlons, Olympic Gold. Full stop.