ITU worlds

I am still digesting the ITU worlds. Olympic is not my favourite distance, intensity is high and swim has a greater impact on result than an IM or 70.3… However, getting good at OD is pretty certain to help my longer distance performance.

Overall the ITU could learn a lot from IM about putting on an event. After all it is not cheap, so claiming low budget is not a good answer. Very simply they do not make the athletes feel special, I think that we are there solely to fund the pro event… I don’t have an issue with that in principle, but they should put on an effort, after all they do represent the best AG athletes in the world :smiley:

Lake was lovely, warm, crystal clear, stunning: my swim was epically awful, nothing happened, loads of feet to draft, just so unbelievably slow. I need to do something different this winter

I loved the bike course, hilly and probably the most technical course I have ridden almost 600m elevation, which included 2 16% climbs. Had 2 big squeeky bum moments. Did a 90% IF and held my own against the short course specialists. First outing for P3X and very pleased, as Shiv is not so good on technical course

I was wondering how I would run off the P3X, I have done one Brick, and thought that I would be fine. And that is how it went, started off at 4:07/km, then the first hill, a brutal 200m 25%, in fact the next 2 km were steep uphill the steep downs: Clearly ITU don’t believe in flat runs. It was a 2 lap course, second time actually wasn’t so bad as I knew what was coming. I was passed by very few people, but I was constantly passing people, so felt like one of the strong runners. I am delighted with a 42:07 10km run on that course.

Felt absolutely shattered at the end, but 1 hour later and it feels no more than a good training session. Ride was great practice for Nice, and I may try for a sub 1h30 run in Nice… Unfortunately feel that swim is a right off

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Ive always had mixed feelings about AG racing. @explorerJC has changed my mind somewhat with his posts as some people really get a lot of enjoyment out of it and train hard to do it and that’s always a good thing. My issues were generally being surrounded at a club by 20 somethings posting BS updates about how Elite they are because they did a 1:15 sprint distance. Standard is typically very good though, but my main points i still believe in, British TRi send far too many athletes per AG, clearly a money making exercise but they need a way to get the funds in, they aren’t the F.A.!!! The races are very expensive and are a sideshow to the main event, again that’s only to be expected but as you say you don’t feel part of something special. It should be masters only like other sports , if you are 18-35 you should be elite to represent your country, not jump on facebook telling people you are racing for Team GeeeBeeee with the brownlees. (I’ve seen this) Oh and the guy at my sons school. He is the biggest advert for staying clear :wink: Every day (no exageration) he does the school run in GeeeBeeee tracksuit, baseball cap, maybe just a GB t-shirt but always showing everyone he’s a GB athlete.

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I wore my Ironman Hamburg hat everyday on holiday, bar the first day. People have to know who they’re dealing with :sweat_smile:

The points above resonate with why I don’t feel compelled to try for a GB AG slot; despite the fact the Standard Distance suits me better, and I could be way up the road enough for Matt not to catch me :wink:

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@Hammerer - your points exactly.

ITU is about Elite racing - Brit Tri has turned it into a money spinner. Definitely not the same attitude in France. But then French pro sport has a better funding model. Until you can get grassroots right I don’t feel Brit Tri shouldn’t be bragging about its AG ‘results’.

Hey ho. My opinion - not often popular.:woman_shrugging:

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funding, I feel a lot of the “almost mainstream” sports like tri and cycling , maybe swimming also have become lazy with funding due to the lottery. It’s “easy” money and means its all about the medal. In the velodrome , it may have been the french, who complained basically citing doping, GB do nothing for 3.5 years then turn up and win everything. I know why, its because lottery money isnt given for winning a rainbow jersey 6 months after an Olympics, so they dont target them. They win at the worlds a few months ahead of the Olympics as they are starting to peak. Look at Ali, how many World Champs could he have won over the years had he bothered to show up for the races or not destroyed himself for the one goal.

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Of course the 18-39s could drop out like every other sport but then you’d need double the 40 plus but you won’t have the feeder mechanism that currently exists. It would be yet another drop out sport.

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Basically, if you’re looking for razzmatazz, an epic challenge or an adventure, it doesn’t tick any of those boxes.

Could it be that we don’t have a decent domestic league and hence why people feel they need to pay their way into ‘worlds’ to feel vinidcated in their performance?

@Hammerer I think you and I have shared a discussion on the difference between the French and UK leagues. Charity begins at home and all that - back to my point about get a thriving structure at home and then there won’t be the need to feel vindicated with overseas racing.

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Yes we did, and i still think some national level “league” series would be a good addition somehow. Could be a way to choose AG qualifiers as well, The London league is ok, but only a few clubs take it seriously and the other issue is not enough tri’s as its london! mainly end up swim / parkruns out of a pool.

feel free to turn out a few olympic medallists without the funding and let us know how you get on…

GB tri would have been cooked without the Brownlees and would be again now without the women…

or they could just enjoy what they do

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its not about me turning out olympic medallists without the funding, its about relying on the lottery and creating a culture of all or nothing every 4 years and not considering long term athlete development or worrying about their welfare when they are no longer “fit for purpose”. Isn’t it sad when we don’t even send competitive athletes to major champs. This isn’t a dig at BTF but a dig at funding at UK Sport in general, and British Cycling are the biggest culprits. You are right without the Brownlees British Triathlon would be in trouble. They are now putting all their eggs in the Alex Yee basket as they have no one close to running fast enough to be competitive.

Do the ladies not matter as much to BTF?
We seem to be stacked at the pointy end but without anyone consistently performing (over the course of more than 2 seasons)

So, take your pick, do you want Oly winners or several top 10 places at continental champs?

indeed it is sad that we can’t have both, but there isn’t the money or the talent. Thus the BTF has to do what it can with its resources and rely on gaining as much external sponsorship and visibility as possible…and guess what one of the ways of getting that visibility is???

As for welfare, well it has certainly been lacking, in part that is resource and experience (much to be done there) but also there is no total solution to athlete disappointment

In Tri I actually want a decent progression of good athletes arriving at major events fit and healthy for a start rather than this constant train race injury recovery cycle that goes on. I think the ITU take some blame. WTS is pretty full on with too much racing and travel all over the world. GB cant possibly send athletes competing that amount to win a world title with little/no funding benefit. I much prefer the single event champs of old, best on the day. There’s far less money and exposure in that. Have a smaller series or “league” without too many back to back races and the associated travel, which may even decide QF for the champs instead but certainly less racing so the world champ is not just the athlete that travels and recovers best

The ITU and the coaching are to blame for the injuries, and the lack of talent.

With smaller exposures comes smaller exposure…they would have to do something to make up the financial shortfall…

Overall I think AG qualification & representation is a good thing for the sport. Having that goal can help average punters like me lift their game, and become a little bit better & more engaged.

There is no doubt, the guys winning these races are seriously good athletes. I was speaking to the AG20-24 winner from Germany, he was hoping that the result would get him into the German Bundeslige next season, with a target to go pro eventually. Not least because the entry fees for the Bundeslige are only €60.

To get a medal is a huge achievement. That British Triathlon celebrate their successes is only right. You can argue the team should be smaller, but thems the rules, BT set out the selection criteria, who are we to argue what people spend their money on?

The main complaint (on this forum) seems to be people flaunting their achievements to an unwitting public, and thus portraying themselves as somehow better than the rest of us. It’s a theme that runs through all the TeamGB and IMJ threads, that these people somehow threaten the integrity of the achievement for anyone who doesn’t want to shout about it. It’s not unique to triathlon, when I was a runner all anyone asked me was “do you do marathons?” Then “why not, aren’t you good enough?” To non-athletes, marathon is the pinnacle of running, ironman the pinnacle of triathlon and TeamGB means you are good.

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There is no reason why people shouldn’t be proud of what they achieve. I don’t see what is so bad about putting a post on FB or even getting a mention in local paper sports section.

Some people do over hype their achievements, while others do not mention their incredible performances, I guess it is personal.

I wouldn’t put anything about ITU performance on IMJ as clearly it is irrelevant as not an Ironman

I think what has muddied the waters here (and sadly in UK triathlon it’s far too evident), it’s that it’s not necessarily the best, it’s those that can afford to.

It’s not the recognition for someone who has just plugged away at it and shown progression in their local event. It’s those that could afford to go to the qualifying race (a weekend away for a race is not cheap). Then those that can pay the ‘Team GB’ premium to get kit and then those that can afford to travel to the World Champs wherever it is in the year.

If the local leagues were worth having, local businesses would sponsor teams to get to league races and then get their athletes qualifying. Instead it’s all about influencers and likes but someone still having to actually stump up the cash to get places (no #sponsored athlete actually gets money from their ‘sponsor’). But then it’s not just needing a local league, it’s needing local coverage and then national coverage in order to get the sponsors ateention etc etc etc. So it’s a long vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

So, yes, well done to those that represented. They wouldn’t have turned up without putting in the hard work training. And good for those getting wear out of the kit they’ve paid a premium for. The challenge needs to go back to UK Sport about whether the priorities are right and are we really looking after everyone’s well being.

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