Well what an amazing 16 days we had! It is such a pity it’s all over. Next time around at least we will have three days of triathlon racing to look forward to!
I was lucky enough to get a ticket for the women’s triathlon. The race had everything, a break away, a catch, crashes and one of the closest finishes in the entire Olympic Games. It was a real pity that Emma Moffatt crashed out early in the race. Helen Jenkins did amazingly well considering her preparation had been less than ideal due to an injury. It was also sad to see Paula Findlay so badly affected by her injury. Did the Team GB tactics work? It was going to be difficult with the GB number one not at full fitness and perhaps a less than ideal pontoon draw. It would have been great to see Helen Jenkins exit the water and T1 with the lead group. They might have been caught but the slippery roads would have made for a difficult chase. You can’t argue with the results though and I do believe Nicola Spirig, Lisa Norden and Erin Densham fully deserved their medals.
The men’s triathlon was also a fantastic race. Unfortunately Simon Whitfield crashed out early in what was quite a spectacular accident. Again I am not sure the Team GB race tactics worked exactly as planned. The breakaway didn’t seem to affect Alistair but I get the feeling it left Jonny with a little less gas in the tank. When the break away was eventually caught Stuart Hayes did a great job leaving only Javier Gomez with the legs to stay in touch with the Brownlees. The penalty Jonny incurred for mounting his bike before the line probably didn’t affect the outcome. He seemed to be dropping off the pace before taking the penalty. Psychologically it is hard to say what effect the penalty had on Jonny. It may also have given Gomez a little boost. While I would have loved to see a GB gold and silver, Gomez did have a great race and deserved silver and we really should not complain about gold and bronze to the Brownlee bro’s!
Here are some fantastic images from the London 2012 Olympic Games Triathlon.
This weekend is the Hackney Quest Challenge for all those taking part in our training on Saturday. Sunday is our technique swim. You will need fins and pull buoys but no paddles required this time around. It is going to be hot so please no wetsuits this weekend to avoid any mishaps.
See you this weekend. It seems like forever since I last saw you all! Tim (LFTC Coach)