Jonathan Brownlee admits a part of him will be missing as Alistair pulls out of ITU World Triathlon Series opener in Abu Dhabi
Ashleigh Gentle and Vicky Holland come into the new ITU World Triathlon Series season on the back of hugely differing 2017 fortunes. After several years of admittedly being the bridesmaid, Gentle thrust herself into the limelight last year with a maiden WTS victory in Montreal on her way to finishing runner-up behind champion Flora Duffy, who retained the title she won in 2016. The 32-year-old English athlete managed to drag herself to a fifth-place finish in Japan but an MRI later revealed that had been a miracle as she’d slowly aggravated a niggling calf injury that had first surfaced the previous December. She made her comeback at the Cape Town ITU Triathlon World Cup earlier this month and in some style too, beating fellow Briton Non Stanford to the title by 34 seconds. Both will gauge how far they’ve come during the winter when they line up on the start line at the WTS season-opener in Abu Dhabi on Friday, in what is set to be one of the most competitive women’s line-ups in the event’s four-year history. Despite victory on her return to competition, Holland is excited to test herself against a stellar field. As for Gentle, she is hoping she can marry her form from 2017 with her ambitions for the Commonwealth Games, which start in just over a month, on April 4. Gentle is a Brisbane native and now lives in the city of Gold Coast, just 41 miles south east of her home. Gentle has been with new coach Jamie Turner for the last 12 months and feels she’s found another gear as she also targets the next Olympics in Tokyo 2020. One star name Holland and Gentle will be keeping a particular eye on is New Zealand veteran Hewitt, 35, who tearfully dedicated her Abu Dhabi triumph a year ago – her first WTS win in six years – to former partner Laurent Vidal.
rachael paxton triathlete
There comes a time when you see new competitors come onto the scene and are making the decisions you did 8 years ago, such as giving up work to train and race full time. Usually during a race I’m already making plans about what I need to do in training, where I will race next and how much I love the pain. The pro race is completely different to the age group race. Preparation has been going fairly well, only marred by a mild hamstring niggle which I have decided is not worth the risk of racing my prep race Hell of the West. I ran with fellow triathlete Ben Cook and even though we chatted the whole way I finished up running a lot faster than I had planned but was quietly confident that I was feeling pretty good for the race. Even after all these years of racing I still make last minute calls about my race gear. I’m actually looking forward to a few days down time as things have been busy in life, training, racing and getting on with things. It’s a fantastic race in its 29thyear and was the last international race I did before I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 2.5 weeks after my surgery I lined up on the beach at Bribie for a 750/20/5 sprint race! Wow- did that hurt!!!!!! I had a great swim, took the lead before the first round about and finally had a race there without a bike mechanical or crash!! I had a fantastic 5km run off the bike going just under 18:50 & was really happy to win there again. The day before Mooloolaba I did my pre-race training, ate, racked my bike, put my legs up the wall, ate, hydrated and watched copious amounts of trashy TV. I woke up before my alarm clock at 4am- race day was here! I always have a quick shower before breaky on race day, coffee and food before walking the 400m over to transition.
jimfredricks
He’s completed six Ironmans, competed professionally in triathlons, was a collegiate MVP at Clemson University in swimming, is a devoted husband and father, and more recently in the middle of this brutal recession, acquired – and then expanded – a string of retail shops devoted to swim sports. Spend a few minutes with him, and you may just want to take on a few challenges of your own. He notched his most recent Ironman – the venerable Kona Ironman competition in Hawaii – in early October of this year. While it’s clear that he is in many ways a natural athlete, he points to his parents as playing a vital role in setting him on a path toward success. A homegrown phenomenon, Tj was part of the first generation of kids who were born, grew up, and then graduated high school entirely in The Woodlands. His foray into competitive sports, particularly his key sport, swimming, started with one of those classic parental decisions – Tj and his sister both were getting involved in sports, and the scheduling was getting difficult. His parents also laid down one very clear rule: you can choose your activity or sport – but you will pick something. Training weeks start at about eight hours of swimming, biking and running a week and stretch to as much as 16 hours per week as athletes seek to get in the distances that will prepare them for an Ironman. On top of being a competitive amateur athlete, and managing a busy household with his wife, Tj took on yet another endurance challenge of his own back in 2009, deciding to leave a safe, stable and successful career as an executive for commercial lending at Woodforest Bank and diving into owning and operating his own business. It’s a tricky issue; you want to make sure everything’s firm and the cash flow is good.
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