There are few athletes in the World Triathlon Championship Series with as much speed as Nina Eim.
From her teenage years, she has track personal bests of 8.08 over the 60m and 26.15 over the 200m (both indoors). It is not only uncommon for an elite triathlete to come from such a sprint background. Eim possesses a level of sprint speed that many in the men’s field would quietly envy.
Indeed, she might be among the most lethal triathletes in a sprint finish.
Eim’s closing speed was on display in Abu Dhabi where she achieved her best WTCS result of 7th. At the last, she out-sprinted Emma Lombardi and Verena Steinhauser, both very capable runners in their own right.
Of course, Eim’s performance cannot be reduced to her swiftness at the finish. Her work on the bike in particular was crucial to setting up her race and helping the main pack limit the gains of the breakaway.
“I didn’t expect such a good result,” said Eim, explaining that she wasn’t even sure that she would race.
In September, she suffered a stress reaction in her hip. The injury ended her 2022 and came at perhaps the most inopportune moment. In the weeks prior, Eim had achieved her best WTCS finish to date: a 9th place in Hamburg with the second fastest run of the field. Thereafter, she finished 4th at the European Championships (Olympic distance) in Munich.
Her performance in Munich, on top of two European Cup wins in late 2021 and early 2022, was also in large part responsible for Eim’s most recent accolade as she was recently named Europe Triathlon’s female athlete of the year for 2022.
However, her hip ended that run of form. With three months of no cycling and running, it would even by a push to make it to the start of the 2023 season.
Indeed, before Abu Dhabi, she and her team were concerned of the risk of a reaction by racing too soon. Moreover, Eim had small doubts over her shape heading into the race.
As a result, she “went into the race with no expectations”.
“I told myself I have nothing to lose.”
Eim resumed full running on a recent four week training camp in Namibia with the German national team. Her first fast efforts in training came on the camp and “felt surprisingly good”.
“I’m not a big fan of racing in the heat,” added Eim, so the camp was ideal preparation for Abu Dhabi.
With time against her, she was able to do one brick session before WTCS Abu Dhabi. That session consisted of three rounds of 8 minutes hard on the bike into 1.2km of running.
With that session in the bank, she proceeded to run only 5 seconds slower than Beth Potter, the race winner in Abu Dhabi.
“As a child I competed in track and field, mostly in sprint and long jump,” explained Eim. “I would say my strength is still in the shorter distances. I’ve improved a lot over the Olympic distance, but the shorter races are where I’m stronger.”
That sprint background came to the fore last year when she won the European Super Sprint Championships in Olsztyn.
Her training, though, is now entirely geared towards the Olympics distance. As such, she will not have to make any major adjustments with the Olympics looming.
Another training camp awaits Eim, this time in Flagstaff at end of March. However, she is not sure when she will race next.
She would like to race at WTCS Yokohama. The problem she faces is that she is the sixth ranked German woman in the World Triathlon rankings. For reference, Eim is ranked 23rd in the world and would start for just about any other country.
When we see Eim next, then, is a little up in the air. When we do, though, we can rest assured that with more training under her belt she will be even more lethal on the run.
