On the surface, it would be easy to think Miguel Hidalgo is in a hurry. As the only man born in the 21st century to be currently ranked in the top-40 of the WTCS, he is one of the future stars of the sport.
Indeed, he has been on the rise for some time now. At WTCS Montreal in 2021, Hidalgo was almost the first man born this century to achieve a top-10 finish at a WTCS race. On that day, he took 11th.
In 2022 he improved upon that and now, after an impressive season, Hidalgo is one of three men born in this century to have achieved a WTCS top-10. (The other two are Paul Georgenthum, who came second in Hamburg 2021, and Ricardo Batista, who came 8th in Yokohama 2022).
When asked what got him into the sport, he said it all began with his father’s encouragement.
“I used to compete in swimming,” said Hidalgo, “but I was never good enough to become a professional swimmer. When I tasted victory for the first time at my first national youth championship in 2015 I decided to switch to triathlon.”
Shortly after that national youth title, a home Olympics arrived in Brazil to inspire him further. Now, a few years later, “competing against the same athletes I watched as a kid is really cool.”
It was in Leeds this summer that Hidalgo had his breakout race as he finished 6th. His swimming background was clear as he was second out of the water behind Mark Devay and alongside Vincent Luis, but what stood out was his speed on the run.
One week later, he won bronze at the Huatulco World Cup, again combining the fastest swim of the day with a blistering run. After also medalling in Huatulco in 2021, his credentials over the Sprint distance are hard to argue with.
One thing that is perhaps most impressive about Hidalgo outside of racing is his combination of self-belief and self-awareness. When asked about Leeds, he said, “I was very happy and proud to see my work paying off. But it was something I’ve always believed I’d achieve at some point.”
“I always expect a good performance in the Sprint distance,” he added.
When asked about his confidence over Sprints versus the Olympic distance, his opinion is also balanced. At the moment he enters every Sprint sure he will perform well as “I can handle very high efforts for 50 minutes”.
At the same time, “I believe I still don’t have enough training time to do the same in the Olympic distance. I will work hard on it for 2023 because it’s the distance that matters.”
It is easy for athletes to prioritise what they are good at, particularly when they are young, so it was refreshing for Hidalgo to be so candid about where he has to improve and the patience he will need to do so.
In the four weeks leading up to Leeds Hidalgo said he “ran higher than usual weekly volumes” and so was a little surprised to be able to beat some of the athletes for the first time.
However, after showing such fast improvements, he was forced to abruptly slow down.
“I had a stress fracture in my tibia in preparation for Leeds, Huatulco and Montreal,” said Hidalgo. “It was a combination of factors that caused this and I analysed it well and will do everything to not make the same mistakes again.”
As a result, he did not run for 3 months and it was something that he felt compromised the rest of his season. With such a lengthy lay-off, he had to be patient in his recovery. His injury also forced him out of the last Sprint race of the Series (in Hamburg), leaving only Olympic distance events.
Although he did not return to the top-10 of the WTCS in the second half of the season, he still had some notable results.
At the start of October, he won the South American Games in Asuncion (a Sprint race), defeating WTCS medallist Manoel Messias.
In Asuncion, Hidalgo had the fastest swim and bike of the field, putting a sizeable lead into his rivals.
“I came back running 2 weeks before the race so I went all-or-nothing because I knew there was only one possible strategy. What helped a lot is that my cycling form was very good at the time.”
While he did not have the WTCS Final he had hoped for in Abu Dhabi, he did enough to secure 31st overall in the Series. Moreover, now that he has shaken off his injury, he can build towards 2023 and beyond.
Nevertheless, there were two key questions still to ask Hidalgo.
The first was whether he could share one of the hardest training sessions he could remember from this season. While he said tiredness is often a factor, there was one that stood out.
The session was: 4x (750m swim + 15’ on the turbo) all at threshold and at altitude.
With that kind of intensity, his strength over the Sprint distance makes a lot of sense and it likely won’t take long for his Olympic distance endurance to follow.
And then it came to the final, perhaps most important, question: will Brazil win the World Cup in Qatar?
“I’m hopeful and confident this time. But it will be very challenging from the fourth game on.”
As with all of his answers, Hidalgo was thoughtful in his response. One thing is for sure, though: he has reason to be even more hopeful and confident for his own sporting success in the coming years.
