For most viewers of the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi, trying to keep up with what was happening and the permutations of every move was no mean feat.
To commentate on the races in real-time, and doing so in the Abu Dhabi heat, was an entirely different proposition. That challenge was taken up by three-time Olympian, Helen Jenkins.
In 2021, Jenkins became a more consistent part of the World Triathlon commentary team after sporadic commentary experiences towards the end of her career. Abu Dhabi, though, presented one her of her hardest races to call yet.
“I have never known a world championship to move around so much in the last 500m,” said Jenkins.
Lead commentator Trevor Harris had all the relevant data to hand, allowing Jenkins to focus on calling the athletes and the races as they unfolded. However other challenges popped up. A combination of limited camera views and the live timing not working in the women’s race meant that the duo of Harris and Jenkins did not have it easy.
As a two-time world champion, Jenkins brings obvious race experience and expertise to the commentary. What stands out though is her ability to capture the human side of the race.
With families watching from home, she said “it’s important to reference where people are”, particularly those outside the lead pack. Moreover, “by the end of the season you know a bit more about the athletes and their stories and how they’ve been racing and where their trajectory is.” Her aim is to bring those stories into the foreground and to weave them into the race narrative.
Jenkins’ forays into commentary have also changed her attitudes towards the sport.
“When I was racing World Triathlon I didn’t really follow it.” Almost instantly, she followed up to clarify that “I’m definitely more of a fan now than I’ve ever been!”
Her relative distance from the sport as an athlete made sense though. During her career, there were moments in which the sport threatened to dominate her life.
Amidst injury phases, particularly when she was unable to train in the lead-up to the London Olympics in 2012, Jenkins decided that triathlon “could not take over my life”.
In her eyes, triathlon “can never be a job” so she had to “learn to put it aside and have a life away from triathlon”. In doing so, she ended up pre-empting one of the great difficulties that face retiring athletes: post-sport identity.
Due to a series of misfortune, including her injury in 2012, she did not race for a year after the London Olympics.
“I didn’t know if my back was going to get better at that point, so I had to a lot of that (defining her identity away from the sport) early on in her career.”
As a result, when she made her comeback, she did so with a balance that would be able to guide her next steps.
Jenkins’ return to the sport arguably peaked in 2016, specifically in Gold Coast, Australia. At WTCS Gold Coast she did what no one had done in over a year. She beat American Gwen Jorgenson. In doing so, she broke Jorgenson’s international winning streak of 15 consecutive individual races that dated back almost two years.
“That race is really special,” said Jenkins, “and not just because I won. I didn’t know if I would be able to do it again.”
After 2012, with persistent back struggles thwarting her, Jenkins was not able to train the way she wanted to. Because of this, “I never really, deep down, believed I would win a race again.”
The reduced training load after London was a challenge. Triathlon can often fall prey to the mentality of more always being better as an endurance sport, but there is also a basic level of volume that is required to develop the aerobic fitness required to compete.
Not being able to train at the volumes Jenkins hoped to therefore proved a challenge of psychology as much as fitness.
At the same time, there were benefits that came out of her reduced training load. It “made us work a lot harder at making sure every session counted, getting the most out of recovery, knowing when to push and when not to push.”
With her crowning triumph in Gold Coast, which was followed by a bronze medal at WTCS Stockholm and an appearance at the Rio Olympics, she overcame the challenge.
Her success in 2016 also came at a great moment for British Triathlon. Vicky Holland took bronze at the Rio Olympics and Non Stanford claimed 4th place in Rio.
Since then Sophie Coldwell and Georgia Taylor-Brown have emerged. Meanwhile, Kate Waugh is on the rise after just taking the U23 world title. It seems like there is a conveyer belt of talent but also a culture that is enabling the British women’s team to thrive.
When asked about the team culture, Jenkins said that it had definitely grown to become a real point of strength.
“When I first started, that wasn’t there at all. For a while I was the only athlete doing well on the World Series, then along came Non and then Vicky, then Jess (Learmonth) and Georgia.”
It’s the “supportive nature of the team” and a desire to help one another that has helped the culture flourish. The athletes naturally still want to win but not at the expense of one another. That kind of mentality can be rare in individual sports such as triathlon.
Jenkins also pointed out that with German depth on the rise, other teams could capitalise on the same energy.
After a brilliant 2016, Jenkins stepped away from short distance racing. Although she planned to step up to longer distances back surgery, becoming a mother and then the pandemic intervened.
Her retirement from the sport ultimately came in 2021 but it was a change for which she was well-prepared. Alongside her focus on controlling her identity as an athlete during her career, having kids helped with the identity aspect of her retirement.
Nowadays Jenkins is adapting to the post-athlete lifestyle. She is now a cycling coach for Her Spirit, an online coaching platform for women. One great draw for her it is that “I love the interactive feedback.”
“One of the things I miss most about being an athlete is having a goal and working towards something.” Crucially, with the coaching, she is able to help other people towards their own goals.
Indeed, she said not having clearly defined goals is probably the biggest challenge retiring from elite sport has presented.
Her engagement in Her Spirit brings up an interesting topic; namely, how to make triathlon a space for women to participate in. Anecdotally, triathlon is quite male-dominated with more men starting races at almost all levels of the sport. Jenkins pointed out that the Cardiff half marathon in 2019 had more women participate than men, so there are potential avenues for the sport to follow.
Time restrictions appear to be the main blocking point, with the sport demanding a lot more time and money. Jenkins also suggested that family dynamics could play a role.
Jenkins is looking to continue to in the commentary booth for the coming WTCS seasons. While she suggests a future retiring athlete could potentially take her place, we would not stand for it. Moreover, she is looking to enjoy being a fan of the sport.
“Being British, but being neutral in commentary, Alex Yee winning would’ve been brilliant, but also Leo Bergere is so well-rounded so that speaks to me as a triathlete.”
She also pointed out that Abu Dhabi presented an interesting potential wrinkle with regards to team dynamics. Whereas the front pack contained three French athletes that were able to work together, Yee and Wilde had team mates in the front group that were faced with a conundrum. Should they ride for themselves or ride for their team mates’ world title challenges?
It’s a subtle team element and one that might come into play at the Paris Olympics, especially in the British team if both Alex Yee and Jonathan Brownlee have medal aspirations.
When it comes to the Olympics, Jenkins also added, “I hope they keep the Olympics Olympic”.
“For me, I would much rather watch an Olympic distance than a Sprint. There’s a lot more that goes on, there’s a lot more to it, there’s a lot more tactics and a lot that comes into it.”
With Olympic selection looming, there is much to look forward to in 2023. While Jenkins identified “how cold it’s going to be in (WTCS) Sunderland!” as something to enjoy, she said one thing she is looking forward to most is variety of the sub-plots that will enter the racing as athletes compete against their compatriots for coveted slots.
With all the twists and turns yet to come on the road to Paris will likely be, there should be one thing to rely on throughout: the narration of each race by Helen Jenkins.
