The men’s Olympic triathlon will be contested on August 18, while the women will take to Copacabana Beach on August 20.
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“Congratulations to all of the athletes that have worked so hard for so long to make it to the Olympics,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “The men’s and women’s start list reflect deep fields riddled with talent from all over the world. Come August 18 and 20, the word will be inspired and entertained by these 110 men and women.”
A record number of 42 nations have qualified spots for the triathlon at Rio , the highest number ever for triathlon at an Olympic Games. In London 2012, there were 39 nations, with 37 represented in Beijing 2008, 33 in Athens and 34 in Sydney.
These include six that have qualified a spot for the first time in the history of Olympic triathlon including Azerbaijan, Barbados, Israel, Jordan, Norway and Puerto Rico.
Seven nations will see the maximum allowance of three women compete are Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Russia, and the United States.
In the men’s race, eight nations have qualified the maximum of three men including Australia, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States.
Start numbers are drawn at random and assigned in groupings to National Olympic Committees, determining where athletes rack their bikes in transition. However, athletes will select their start position based in order of their Olympic rankings at the athlete briefing in Rio. The first ten athletes’ selections will not be revealed until all 55 athletes have chosen their spot.
The GB men’s team (Brownlees and Gordon Benson) are numbered 4,5 & 6 while the women’s team (Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland and Non Stanford) are numbered 14, 15 & 16.
Start numbers 30-39 hold good omens as to who might podium at Rio. So far five gold medals have come from start numbers between 30 and 39. These included Emma Snowsill (34), Brigitte McMahon (35), Kate Allen (39), Jan Frodeno (32) and Alistair Brownlee (30).
However the number with the most success is 34. It was worn by Emma Snowsill (Gold in Beijing), Magali di Marco Messmer (Bronze in Sydney), and Susan Williams (Bronze in Athens). Start number 27 has also been a successful number, with Bevan Docherty claiming both his medals, silver in Athens and bronze in Beijing, in that start number.
Women’s start list Men’s start list
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Current European triathlon champion India Lee is to head up Insurance company Pedalcover’s, new triathlon team, launched to support emerging British talent.
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Lee will be joined by current British Champions Sophie Coldwell and Morgan Davies who together won silver at the U23 European championships in the mixed relay team.
Over the course of the season, the team will compete for Team Pedalcover across the world.
As part of Team Pedalcover, triathletes will get kit, clothing and branded merchandise, in addition to insurance cover.
Pedalcover also sponsors GB triathletes Vicky Holland and Tom Bishop, partners with Welsh Triathlon, and have launched an affiliate scheme to donate money to grassroots development.
Pedalcover’s founder Darren Thomas said: “As a former semi-professional cyclist and Ironman I know how hard it is at the start of your career. Through Pedalcover, I wanted to be in a position to support the next generation of GB triathletes.
“Through Team Pedalcover we aim to nurture the talent we have in triathlon in the UK and give something back to the sport we love.
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“We’ve got an exceptional bunch of elite athletes who are great ambassadors for us and we’re looking forward to following their success over the course of the season.”
The Championship event is an upgrade to existing Challenge Melbourne event and will take place in St Kilda rather than Brighton, where it has taken place for the last three years.
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Martin Jolly, Chief Executive Officer of Sports Media and Entertainment 360, owners and operators of the event, said: “We are super excited to announce that Challenge Melbourne has moved venues in 2017 and will be held at the iconic Catani Gardens in St Kilda. We are also extremely excited for this event to have been chosen to host the 2017 Asia Pacific Championship.
“This picturesque beach side venue in Melbourne Australia is the perfect location to stage an event of this caliber as it has an abundance of accommodation, cafes, tourist activities and nightlife that promises a great weekend or holiday in this famous city.”
It is expected more than 1,500 triathletes will complete a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run, and the pros will fight it out for a $30,000 prize purse and the title of Asia-Pacific Champion. The event will also carry double qualification slots for the Challenge Family’s World Championship event at the half distance.
While Challenge Melbourne is the Asia-Pacific Championship for 2017, triathletes of all levels are welcome to register for the event, and pre-sale registrations are available now at www.challengemelbourne.com.au.
With all eyes on Rio and Team GB, including the Brownlees, British Triathlon are hoping capture the enthusiasm to inspire more than 10,000 people to take up the sport of triathlon through its campaign #YourGOTRI. Launched today, the #YourGOTRI campaign, running throughout the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympic Games period, encourages newcomers to the sport by creating their own personal triathlon experience.
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Simply by visiting www.gotri.org/yourgotri, people can create their own triathlon, selecting a swim, cycle and run from options including a “trip to the pool”, “pedal in the park”, and “jog round the block”. Participants can also select to “row in the gym” instead of swim, if they’d rather not get wet, or don’t have a local pool.
Once participants have created their own triathlon, they’ll be supported with top tips from the experts at British Triathlon. You can also check out our beginner section on our website for lots of tips and advice.
Participants have the opportunity to Tri Something New and the chance to win triathlon starter packs provided by British Triathlon sponsors and suppliers.
Since London 2012, triathlon has enjoyed significant growth. The number of triathlon events increased by 63% from 2012 to 2016, with on average 24 events per week across Great Britain. Growth has also been seen across all demographics with 88% growth in Home Nation membership amongst women, and 169% growth amongst young people aged 16-18.
Jack Buckner, CEO of British Triathlon, says: “The aim of this campaign is to inspire new triathletes and break down any perceived barriers about the sport being too challenging, intimidating or expensive. Anyone who completes a swim, a bike and a run is a triathlete, and the goal is to encourage people to enter a triathlon event in 2017, giving themselves an achievable goal to work towards. Setting a goal is a great way of increasing commitment to regular activity.”
Get someone you know involved and tweet using #YourGOTRI.
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For more inspiration read pro Caroline Livesey’s piece on why she thinks everyone should have a go at triathlon
While many of us would like to think that the 50s are the prime of our lives, new physical performance research shows that this decade might instead mark the beginning of physical decline, which is earlier than previously thought.
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However, for triathletes the news isn’t all doom and gloom. The study, run by Duke Health, indicates that efforts to maintain physical abilities should start before the age of 50. This means that the hours spent training for triathlons in mid-life can go a long way in preserving the skills to keep mobile in later decades.
The research also found that a simple test can determine early weaknesses that can then be addressed before they naturally begin to decline. This will increase the chances of maintaining functions (and racing!) for longer.
“Our research reinforces a life-span approach to maintaining physical ability – don’t wait until you are 80 years old and cannot get out of a chair,” said lead author Katherine S. Hall, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Duke. “People often misinterpret ‘aging’ to mean ‘aged’, and that issues of functional independence aren’t important until later in life. This bias can exist among researchers and healthcare providers, too. The good news is, with proper attention and effort, the ability to function independently can often be preserved with regular exercise.”
The team studied a group of 775 adults, enrolled in the MURDOCK Study -Duke Health’s longitudinal clinical research study. Participants’ ages ranged from their 30s through to their 100s, with broad representation across sexes and races.
Participants were asked to perform a set of simple tasks, which were used to demonstrate strength, endurance and balance.
On average, men performed better than women on the tasks, and younger participants outperformed their older counterparts. Yet declines in physical ability were consistently shown to appear in the decade of the 50s, irrespective of gender or other demographic factors. Different abilities seemed to decline over slightly different time frames. Primarily, both sexes showed the start of the decline in their 50s, and this continued through the next decades. Changes in aerobic endurance and gait speed appeared more with participants in their 60s and 70s.
The study also provided simple yet effective clinical benchmarks to measure physical ability, meaning any problems can be detected earlier.
“Typically, functional tests are conducted on people in their 70s and 80s, and by then you’ve missed 40 years of opportunities to remedy problems,” said Miriam C. Morey, Ph.D., senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development at Duke University School of Medicine.
This news challenges previous assumptions, not only on when we should start thinking about physical abilities, but how we view their decline. While triathletes and other sportspeople are generally active, simple tasks can help highlight any areas of weakness that ideally should be addressed before they naturally begin to decline.
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Michelle Walters, who was 34 years old, was hit by a vehicle and did not survive her injuries. The two-lane highway was not closed to vehicles during the cycling leg, but cones marked vehicle and cycling areas.
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Ironman Boulder officials released the following statement:
“We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of one of our athletes at Ironman Boulder. We are working with the Colorado State Patrol to gather all of the details regarding the incident that occurred on (U.S.) 36 just north of Broadway. Our condolences go out to the athlete’s family and friends, whom we will continue to support.”
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The incident is under investigation but State Patrol officials said alcohol and speed are not believed to be contributing factors.
The study looked at the performance of 11 professional and nine non-professional road cyclists. Both groups of cyclists were asked to complete a 20-minute cycling time trial in the laboratory on two different occasions. On one of the occasion, the cyclists carried out a computerised cognitive task, which was designed to test inhibitory control and induce mental fatigue, after which they completed the cycling time trial.
Two main findings were seen between the groups. Primarily, the elite cyclists performed better in the cognitive task compared to the group of recreational cyclists, indicating that the professionals had better inhibitory control. Inhibitory control is one the factors that helps an individual carry out a goal-related behaviour, and is associated with will-power and concentration.
The second finding was more surprising. The =non-professional cyclists’ performance worsened in the time trial after they completed the cognitive task, but the professional cyclists’ performance after the cognitive task was not significantly different. This suggests that the elite cyclists were more resistant to mental fatigue, and did not let it affect their cycling performance.
The authors concluded that these characteristics are psychobiological, and it is unclear whether they are genetic, acquired through training and lifestyle, or come from a combination of the two. This new finding could be used to shed light onto what gives some cyclists that ‘upper-edge’, and provide a new focus to improve personal performance.
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Read the full findings, which were published on PlosOne, here
The Ironman Weymouth race organisers have told 220 that there are just 100 spots left for their debut Ironman 70.3 race in Weymouth on Sunday 11 September.
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The major race brand have also confirmed the bike course for the new addition to the M-Dot event calendar, with the Cerne Abbas bike stretch pictured above.
Starting and finishing from transition in the heart of Weymouth, the bike course will showcase the best of Dorset across either a 112 mile (IRONMAN) two lap route or a 56 mile (70.3) single lap. This one or two lap anti-clockwise route promises to provide “speed, hills and beauty across rolling countryside and some charming villages.”
Comprising just over 1,880m of elevation over the 2 laps, the 2,500 athletes will relish the spectator support to spur them on as they make their way from Weymouth via Osmington and through the picturesque villages of Puddletown, Piddlehinton and Cerne Abbas.
Notable changes have seen the removal of some of the smaller roads to offer a safer route for the larger number of participants anticipated. There will also be a new loop north of Dorchester, replicating some of the original IRONMAN Sherborne course in 2006.
Full details including an interactive bike map are available IRONMAN Weymouth or IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth. And a promo video is here
WEYMOUTH ROUTES
Ahead of this new bike route, the Weymouth races will commence with a 2.4 mile (IRONMAN) or 1 lap 1.2 mile (70.3) swim in Weymouth Bay. This will be a rolling start swim, as is now implemented across all UK events, to reduce congestion. All athletes will exit the water after the first 1.2 mile lap, with Ironman athletes re-entering for a second lap. Once the athletes have completed the bike course, the race concludes with either a 26.2 mile (IRONMAN) or 13.1 mile (70.3) run, comprising a 2 or 4 lap course respectively.
This multi-lap run will take the athletes around the town, harbour and the sea front. Lined with over 40 cafes, restaurants and bars, it offers outstanding spectator viewing and makes for an electric atmosphere to spur the athletes along to the finish line right up to the 8.5 hours (70.3) or 17 hours cut off time.
The event will mark the first time both an Ironman and a 70.3 race are held on the same day in Europe. Ironman Weymouth will have 30 qualifying slots to the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
Ironman 70.3 Weymouth will have 30 qualifying slots to the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. Professional athletes will compete for a total prize purse of $15,000 USD with the race offering P-500 KPR points as well.
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Online entry and further information is available for IRONMAN Weymouth or IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth.
Whether you’re an elite triathlete aiming to win a 70.3, or just wanting to complete your first triathlon, the age-old rule applies – race results don’t come without putting in the hard work beforehand. However, many of us overlook the fact that training sessions alone aren’t enough to determine performance – choices made about recovery after competitions or training could actually make the difference between a PB and a DNF.
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For a triathlete, understanding recovery is important as training involves intensive sessions in not one, but three different disciplines that make various different demands on the body. Sessions take their toll on mental and physical resources, but the regeneration that occurs after a session helps an athlete to become stronger and fitter. Most triathletes are aware they should timetable recovery into their training plans, yet despite its importance, recovery and rehabilitation hasn’t been viewed as an exact science – until now
Exercise science researcher professor Dr Alexander Ferrauti and sport psychologist professor Dr Michael Kellmann, in collaboration with researchers at Saarland University and the University of Mainz, have spent the past few years running a joint project trying to find the best recovery strategies for athletes after intensive training and competition sessions. The research was run to better understand the recovery process, and might help athletes and coaches choose effective strategies to optimise performance in the future.
For part of the project, scientists wanted to look at recovery after a number of different activities – part of their sample included elite athletes in Olympic training camps. They created training blocks and exercise programmes for a range of top athletes, including weightlifters and volleyball teams. Using blood tests, questionnaires and performance assessments, they studied how certain sports affect the body – and specifically how the body recovers from different sport sessions.
In another section of the research, the team looked at the effectiveness of different recovery methods after similar workout sessions. Active strategies, such as sport-specific stretches and cooling-down tasks were investigated, alongside other measures such as massages and ice baths. Interestingly, one result showed that while ice baths were linked to better performance tests, athletes reported feeling benefits from massages, which did not show this link. This highlights that biological markers should be taken into account alongside athletes’ subjective perceptions, as psychologically this can also influence the recovery process.
The results also reinforced that there is no ‘one size fits all’ for recovery, and that every athlete should choose recovery measures suited to their sport and also their personal preferences. However, as with training, recovery methods should be tried and tested long before competitions, and the body given time to acclimatise to new regimes.
Once the project has ended in late 2016, the organisers hope it will lay the foundations for more research into regeneration management, ultimately to create a tool that is sport-specific and can be used to pick the best recovery measures and rehabilitation methods for each discipline.
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What do you think? Is recovery ever going to be an exact science? Do you have tried and tested recovery methods that work for you? Let us know on Twitter, @220Triathlon