Australian Triathlete – July-August 2017

AustrAliAn triAthlete | 35

Post olymPics Quad

Short Course

Stars Mixing It Up

In 2017

text by joRdan blanco

photogrAphy by Itu MedIa

BROWNLEE

Alistair

© ITU Media/Janos M. Schmidt

After a concerted focus on the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, a handful of short

course stars are turning their attention to events outside the traditional ITU,

World Triathlon Series (WTS) circuit in 2017.

For several athletes, it looks to be a permanent departure from WTS racing, while for

others, 2017 is merely good timing to mix up the schedule without the imminent

pressure of Olympic qualification and the 2020 Tokyo Games. We chatted with

four Rio Olympians who are stepping up to race the half distance in 2017.

Another Olympian testing the waters of

non-drafting racing is South Africa’s

Richard Murray. The fourth place finisher

at the Rio Olympics. Murray is set to tackle

the Challenge Championship race in

Samorin, Slovakia, in early June. Murray

recently spent time in the wind tunnel

with bike sponsor, Specialized, to dial in

his TT bike position among other things.

Murray claims to be just testing the waters

at the half distance: “I’m looking forward

to seeing how I fare over the distance,

hoping I don’t blow up!” Not much has

changed about his training so far, but

Murray will be working with his coach,

Joel Filliol, in the lead up to the race,

increasing bike and run volume as well as

more building TT efforts on the bike.

Having raced a TT bike at last year’s Island

House Invitational Triathlon, an event he

won, he’s clearly no slouch at non-drafting

races. But don’t expect to see Murray on

an Ironman start line anytime soon:

“I doubt I’ll do an Ironman as I prefer high

paced racing, but I’m keen to see how I go

over the half-distance.”

MurrRay

Richard

© ITU Media/Wagner Araujo

Two-time Olympic gold medalist,

Alistair Brownlee, made headlines

earlier this year when he announced his

intention to focus on the half iron distance

in 2017 with an eye towards Ironman racing

in upcoming seasons. While the elder

Brownlee brother’s departure from WTS

racing may come as a welcome relief for

draft-legal racers, including younger

brother Jonny Brownlee, his focus on

longer distance, non-draft racing stands to

spice up the competition at the pointy end

of 70.3 events. Brownlee’s trademark

aggressive and off-the-front racing style is

expected to translate well to the half

distance, as he demonstrated at the recent

Challenge Gran Canaria race, taking the

lead during the hilly, technical bike course

and winning comfortably with a 1:11 run split.

“My training hasn’t changed a great

deal,” he explains, “I’ve tried to prepare for

the longer, steady state style effort of the

non-drafting bike leg and this has mainly

involved long TT efforts.” His true test over

the distance came at the recent Ironman

70.3 North American Regional

Championships in St. George, where

Brownlee faced off against the in-form

Lionel Sanders of Canada and Germany’s

Sebastian Kienle, a two-time World

Champion over the 70.3 distance. Any

doubts about how his short-course cycling

abilities would translate to non-draft

racing were quashed as the Brit got away

during the early miles of the bike, and was

not seen again by his competitors. His bike

split was almost identical to that of

Sanders. Brownlee’s next race is the WTS

event in his hometown of Leeds in early

June. Thereafter he will look to add more

70.3 races to his calendar with a season

goal to “qualify for the 70.3 World

Championships”.

Triathlon fans will need to wait a year

to see Brownlee in Kona as his debut over

the full distance will likely take place in

2018: “if the half distance racing goes well

and I enjoy it, I would like to do [an

Ironman] in the next season or two.”