Preview: Olympic Men's Triathlon

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World Triathlon Championships, Vancouver Canada

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I had the opportunity to get Barrie Shepley's thoughts on the men's triathlon shortly before he left for Beijing. For those of you not familiar with Barrie, he has been instrumental in developing Triathlon in Canada for the past 20 years. He founded the Kids of Steel program which counts Simon Whitfield and Kathy Tremblay among its graduates. Among the many roles he plays Barrie is currently the voice of the International Triathlon Union's World Cup webcasts and the triathlon analyst for CBC at Beijing.

Note: Since we had this conversation before Barrie left for Beijing, air quality has turned out to be a non-factor.

KF: There has been a lot of concern over the air quality, particularly for the longer outdoor events including triathlon. The triathlon has actually been run a couple of times over the past 2 years. What has the air quality been like during the past 2 years and how did the athletes have any problems?

BS: I think it’s naive to not believe we will have some problems in the triathlon. With 2hrs of racing above threshold, in 35-37 degree heat and humidity and extra pollutants will likely cause some problems. Last year, we could not see a mountain 1 mile from the swim / transition site. We have had athletes who have had breathing problems in the test races. Add the stress of the gold medal on the line in Beijing and i would not be surprised to see some problems on race day.

KF: Do you think that the air quality will be an issue for any of the other events – the cycling road race is 260km+ so I’m wondering if it might be more of an issue for the cyclists?

BS: I think the longer the race is, the greater the problems could be. 1-2 days after a good rain-fall, Beijing is actually quite pleasant as many of the pollutants have blown/washed away. So the best thing for the road cycle, triathlon or marathon is to have a big rain 1-2 days before.

KF: What impact, if any, is the course going to have on the race? In Vancouver, in the women’s race we saw Helen Tucker and Sarah Haskins use a more difficult bike course to build a big enough lead that the chase was left to fight for the last podium place. Will any part of the course be a factor for either the men or the women?

BS: Vancouver the cold weather made a big impact. Vanessa Fernandez and Emma Snowsill love the heat, so i anticipate a larger group out of the water together, and to stay together till the 10km run begins. Then it will be the person who can manage the heat/humidity and 33min 10km run pace (for the women) and sub 30min 10k run pace for the men. The swim will be no wetsuit. The bike is tough and hilly, but not as hard as the Athens bike. The run in the heat/humidity with so many world-class runners will be (in my estimation) the deciding factor. All the athletes are really working on their fast 10k runs (as well as strong swim-bike fitness).

KF: Given the course and the conditions, who are your top picks for podium placings for both the men’s and women’s events. Any dark horses that you would give an outside chance?

BS: Australia’s Courtney Atkinson has raced just 2x and all in Asia/Australia. He did virtually the same thing last year and was on the podium in Beijing. He is putting all his marbles into high fitness from training, no fatigue from traveling and a big ripper on race day. He can very likely be a dark horse/podium threat. On the men’s side even tougher, because instead of the 2 favourites as in the women, i honestly see 10 guys who could be on the podium. If Javier Gomez does not break away at 6km and win the race, then we could easily be looking at him not getting a medal (as there are 5-6 better sprinters in the last 400m then Javier). He knows it, his competition knows it, so when he tries to break away at 6km it will be the deciding factor in the race. If Gomez breaks away he will be the likely winner.

With 16 straight podiums and 11 world cup wins and a world championship in 2+ years, that’s not a high risk bet. Other men to be serious podium considerations are:

• Whitfield
• Docherty and Gemmell (New Zealand)
• Unger and Frodano (Germany) 
• Kahfedlt and Atkinson from Australia
• Henning from Denmark
• Rana from Spain
• Don from England 
• Bealubre from France

Truly any of those men on the podium, are not a surprise. They are that good, and all can run 29:45-30:10 off the bike. It depends on the day, and how their body responds to the heat and humidity.

KF: There was some controversy over the selection of the Canadian men’s team with the selection of Colin Jenkins over Brent McMahon. Do you have any insight into the current chemistry within the team now?

BS: Triathlon is still in the individual person stage versus the team stage. Colin is happy as he would have never made the team individually, so he is happy to help Simon. Paul Tichelaar is such a strong athlete, that giving up any of his chance at a great race to help Simon is not something he is overly thrilled about. Mcmahon handled not getting on the team very well, and is off winning prize money all over North America right now. Tichelaar is the one person who has had some problems with the concept. In the end, I see Colin being 100% committed to Simon and Paul likely trying to have the best race he can possibly have.

KF: What is the current strategy for the Canadian men’s team? Will both Tichelaar and Jenkins be working for Whitfield? Are there alternate strategies in place if Whitfield is on an off day or misses a key break?

BS: Until the race occurs, you never know if someone is 100% able or committed to the team concept. Because Colin is a weaker runner, he will do anything it takes to protect and help Simon be in the right place for the run. In Paul’s case, we will have to wait and see how the race unfolds and whether he is helping Simon, or worrying about his own race. Its really not a known situation right now.

KF: Are other teams taking more of a team-based approach to the triathlon? If so who are the strongest teams and which team do you see as having the best ability to control the race to their advantage?

BS: It varies by country. The German men will use this format. The French men will use this format. With cycling, and having 8-10 guys/gals you can have specifically skilled riders for different purposes. Because only 6 countries even get 3 men or 3 women, you don’t have the same kind of mass numbers to really help in a team situation.

Then if one of your athletes is not a great swimmer, they may not get out of the water. Canada is about as well positioned with Whitfield now a very very good swimmer and Jenkins one of the best swim-bike specialists in the world (we have our domestique swimming about as good as our star) and able to help him immediately if a break is occurring on the bike. All in all, because of the reward system (so far) and the small numbers of people any country can actually get into a race, the team concept does not truly work for many nations.

KF: Any final thoughts or comments?

BS: Sydney was incredible with the opera house in the back-drop and the sports debut Athens was amazing with the beautiful blue sea and the incredibly tough hilly course Beijing will have the combination of the amazing backdrop of a race site, and now truly a full field of incredible world-class athletes. It should be epic.