Category: Comment

When the armistice is signed, there are always winners and losers. More often than not, though, the ripples of the truce extend far beyond the parties at the table. When the PGA Tour and LIV Golf signed their ceasefire recently, they ended the bitter divide that has gripped the heart of golf for the better part of two years. For those unfamiliar with the story, LIV Golf presented a new format of the sport and, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, set about pumping the money pipes…

In light of the recent news of the World Cup race in Rome being added to the 2023 calendar, we thought we would ask a question. What are some of the most exotic locations in which World Triathlon could hold a WTCS or World Cup race that have never previously hosted an event? Under the umbrella of previously hosted, we will include any and all World Triathlon events since the inception of the organisation. That rules out Ibiza after it hosted this year’s World Multisport Championships. Likewise Paris would not…

How different is a triathlon to a duathlon? Ostensibly, at least, the only thing that changes is the first discipline. Switch out the swim for another run and leave the last two disciplines intact; it’s close enough. The swimmers in the field are the ones penalised the most by such a change. Yet that does not mean that the faster runners are necessarily the ones to benefit. After all, adding an extra run creates a different challenge. At the European Championships in Madrid, the switch of the 1500m swim to…

It’s Monday morning and the dust has settled. Jeanne Lehair and David Castro Fajardo are European champions after brilliant efforts and the world of elite triathlon is ready to move on to the next thing. However, with the events of the European Championships now consigned to history, it is hard not feel the whole thing was a little farcical. Indeed, thinking about how the weekend in Madrid panned out, there is a big question to be asked. Who really matters in elite triathlon? Let’s start with the primary issue in…

Chapter 1: Abu Dhabi Chapter 2: Yokohama Chapter 3: Cagliari Two men skip stones along the shore. One turns to the other and says, “the best throw earns the gold”. With a small nod, the friend assents and waits as the first man, his stare intense, gazes over the sea. He casts his stone and as it skims over depths not yet known he yelps with glee. “Beat that, my man,” he crows. The second man ignores his friend. He knows what he will do. With a slow draw, he…

He has an unorthodox habit of blasting out the first kilometre of every single run in a triathlon. And more often than not it does not fully pay off as he is caught. However it is hard to deny that Jonas Schomburg flaunts an exuberance in his racing that few can match. When he attacked at WTCS Cagliari on the run, it seemed like it would be like the previous times. Think WTCS Bermuda last year (yes, that’s him there attacking out of T2 pictured above). Think Bundesliga Kraichgau last…

Chapter 1: Abu Dhabi Chapter 2: Yokohama The snake never believes that he is prey. It can be strange, how the world looks one way, unique to eyes that have yet to see what lurks out of sight. The snake knows no fear but what is the natural order of things? And so we come to our would-be four kings. Who is the snake? Who is the terrible eagle soaring with an unbearable promise, ready to strike, ready to kill the false premise that the wretched snake still ruled from…