Totally agree but the reason Beth is running slower this season is she decided at the end of last year that there would be a total focus on bike/swim through the winter and earlier part of the season.

It seems to have paid off because she hasn’t lost a lot on the run but has been a front pack swimmer quite a few times this year. She did an article on it (can’t remember if it was a blog or an interview). She considers herself a WIP and her goal is to be a complete package by Paris 2024. Whether that means another winter of bike/swim focus I don’t know.

To be fair, I think it is clear that USAT understands this. I’m just a fan, but from the outside it seems like Project Podium is a great opportunity to keep talented young guys developing in the sport instead of following the single-sport pathway. Those guys are getting good coaching and it seems like a real chance to develop consistent well-rounded performers.

I also like that they are taking a few unconventional athletes. I guess Sullivan Middaugh isn’t that unconventional since his dad was an Xterra stud, but still - no big swimming pedigree, likes that Colorado outdoor nature endurance stuff, etc. He almost sounds like potentially a huge engine Norwegian-type character.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Your assessment of the Spanish program seems pretty spot-on. In this sport you need guys that are podium threats. To me France is the best at doing this consistently, going back to guys like Laurent Vidal and David Hauss (and maybe more before my time).

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Oh totally but I’m talking about the specific guys that are in the game for usat right now. What’s funny about Webb. He came into tri waaaay too late, but of course he was so ungodly talented at the run he never was going to be a triathlete in his prime.

What’s interesting about Webb. He had trouble w open water swimming. He was actually doing swim sets and send offs and making them w front pack swimmers. Of course it was basically a 6 month try out for him. Super super down to earth guy. I was able to go down and work w his coach for a while and he was a total sponge. But his time table just was so accelerated that development time wasn’t really there. He truly was a “sink or swim” case.


Which is why, the USA “sucks” right now because their best hasn’t raced in a year. Pearson gets back into the game and suddenly our best talent is a front pack swimmer who most of time can hide and stay in front on the bike and can run. Get him back and he’s suddenly got podium talent, I think his biggest issue is consistency. I think that’s what you’ll see more out of him than a consistent top 10 every race.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

well this is information that I didn't know. and it makes the situation better. I am not saying he is going to make the front pack - who knows - but from the sounds of it he wasn't really a high school swimmer (he has some results, my just turned 12 year old can beat his 500 time by 30+ seconds).

I just wish ITU would once and for all turn everything into a sprint distance and pretty much have every WTCS also an MTR stop. Get off the fence and move off the Olympic distance if only so many are going to be olympic distances these days.

Just do it and be done with it.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I prefer the Olympic distance, though since the change is going to happen it might as well happen now.

We will lose the career of the diesels (Gomez comes to mind) if this change occurs. But of course guys like Mola will have even more fulfilling careers.

Speaking of Mola… he needs to get on the podium today. I am taking Abdelmoula for the win, but I think this race plays out well for MAC and Mola too.

That would be the fastest way to be discarded from the Olympics. I would also lose interest in the series. I would actually before making everything back into Olympic distance and excising the short stuff from International Competition. Leave that all to Macca to waste his money on.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

You gotta back up statements when you say it would be fastest way out of Olympics. Sprint races are cute and fast and fit within this 1hr time window for a broadcast. Which is something that many speak on for IOC.

If the sport loses fans, it loses fans. It’s been on a sprint course overall for years now and I don’t think itu has lost fans.

Mtr actually has probably brought more fans than lost.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I just prefer consistency. If there is only going to be several Olympic distances than just move to sprint.

And I’ve heard the whispers of sprint taking over itu since 2010 when our group coached Sarah True.

So I’d rather they get off the pot and just go full bore in either sprints or Olympics. Just do it WT! We all know you want to.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I highly doubt the fanbase has grown much even with MTR.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

If every sprint course was Bergen, the old Huatulco course, Leeds, sure, it could work.

But most courses are flat and will end up like Valencia just did. The entire field came together. The ENTIRE field.
That is boring and certainly not a test of the best triathlete.
The finish places was almost an exact copy/paste from run times.

Olympic distance makes the swim count. Which in turn makes the bike count.
And this is a triathlon after all.

It all depends on the bike course regardless of the distance. There was a ~40 man T2 in Tokyo (there was technically a 1 man break coming into T2 prior to the big pack).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

World Triathlon think that flat courses and 200 laps is interesting for the local people in the venue, but in fact It is not appealing at all for the tv consumption. As some of you mentioned, Leeds, Bergen ,Kitbüehel, Rio...are good venues;the bike course needs hills otherwise it is boring. It could work with the sprint distance, but I think ITU goes the pathway of easy rides in the sprint distance racing because the bike leg, as it is just 25m long or so ,does not matter that much. I think they are completely wrong.I am not suscribed to triathlonlive because the raced are boring since the brownlees, gomez and now Blum are not in the circuit...

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

this is the same guy who was trashing on the US athletes who was completely about actual facts.

the IOC has made it clear that it wants competitions under 2 hours so the olympic distance triathlon is on the endangered species list.

both races today were horrific to watch. how many times did the women's bike leg have what looked like the entire peloton just coasting with everyone's feet frozen in place? they just should have raced 5ks on the track. this venue is not good for the sport. give me some more bergen please.

I dont think they purposely choose flat courses. I think the host cities that afford to bid and then host races, have very limited urban options, and that when Chicago bids on it, they aren't going to do the event 45 mins south in a proper tri area, but in the area that "showcases" the Chicago water front and sky line. So unless you have some characteristics in your urban area, more times than not, the venue is going to suck by default. Didn't they get away from London to Leeds so they could have better racing? London course highlighted every tourist checklist, yet resulted in boring racing.

Yoko is a staple on the circuit yet results in boring ass racing. I would guess there is probaly a 1:3 ratio of good courses to boring courses in the itu host city data base.

(I'm mainly talking about WTCS venues and not world cups....there seems to be more chances of world cup events having better "racing" than WTCS level).

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

And there lies the problem. The ITU charge an extortionate amount of money for the “honour” of hosting the race. In addition to that I believe they also have to post an additional £250k but not certain on that.

What is good for triathlon is not good for the people who host the races. Some ITU racing is boring and you can’t get away from that. I would love to know where all that money goes in ITU.

Bergen was a WC not a WTCS and could afford to be a hard challenging course which totally suited their own athletes.

Regular itu host race in USD:

Sanctioning fee $150k
Event Prize Purse $150k
Overall prize purse pool $50k
TV production avg cost $250k
Tv graphics cost $16k

MTR prize purse add on at event $70k

$300 travel fee per athlete x 120 athletes

-cover transportation for all WT staff.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Are you serious? $750k? but how much the host city puts on the table? $150k or the whole pot? I dont think they even can get those 150 back because i dont know where the incomes for the city come from... i dont think it is tourism, neither tickets...so....I ignore...

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

2 out of 3 - nice predicting!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

The host has to pay all of it, so roughly $750k.

But every event gets an AG race and the simple prestigue of hosting an event etc w tourism. But again that’s why it’s the same 10 cities that host these events and it’s the same “tourist” shots every year. Hamburg geeks out on their event, they have 500k people drinking beer and partying. GB has understood the value of Leeds with making it “hard” as it can. Yoko or Gold Coast? They have zero little distinguishing features to make the bike matter. Bermuda has features that gives athletes chances to make the bike matter. Auckland had some bite on the bike but I think weather issues hurt that event. It would have to basically be Spring or Grand Final. Euro Summer time = winter for them.

This is part chamber of commerce infomercial, part race. That’s why the urban events lack great racing though.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

You are limiting just the payments to the ITU, which are under represented.

Add into that the permits, local officials, timing and security, road closure costs, clean up costs etc. The list is endless.

Leeds council stated in one of their reports that the true cost was circa £2 million.

Yes I was giving the bid breakdown that a city must give to WT to host an event. (This is all public info easily accessible within WT).

How the city handles internal costs beyond that will likely very much different across the board.

Abu Dhabi’s cost where they are “renting” the f1 track vs Leeds that is 100% public roads will likely differ, etc.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

It’s also why it’s not worth it for USA to host that level of events (we as a tri culture just don’t appreciate DL, we are too “I only care about my race” and IM culturally focused to support itu events). They lost over a million dollars when they hosted grand final in 15 at Chicago. And San Diego was a poorly attended race outside of the elites (boring ass course as well). I remember they ran kinda like on a boardwalk and literally right beside peoples back yards. This guy is grilling burgers for his family as the greatest in the world were running their ass off and he had no clue. It was funny to watch the aloofness, or maybe it was “we live on the beach who can beat this” attitude lol.


The world cups we host lately have always been at the Sarasota venue, that lacks any distinguishing feature other than strong winds, which groups can sometimes work against the super weak riders but mostly it’s a meh course. But it’s an easy course as half the course is on a greenway type road so costs are kinda super low w/ low road closure costs.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Kalovy Vary WC olympic distance is today. I missed live coverage of women racing first but this course has some teeth, and has allowed a small breakaway from the front group. 2 strong hills and some "technical" tight course may lead to a break sticking here.


Front group of 10 was caught by a chasing group of 10 who had 16s gap after 1 lap of the bike. McElroy is in the front group, with a small break (2 riders w/ Varga trying to bridge the gap) about 10s ahead of them.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II