U.S. triathletes see golden opportunity in relay
When the race ended, triathlete Kirsten Kasper would take the podium, but as athletes dived into the water for the start, she was nowhere to be found.
She was still warming up. In fact, she would warm up for another half an hour before finally diving in.
Kasper was the third leg for Team USA at last year’s International Triathlon Union (ITU) Mixed Team Relay World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Every mixed relay team is comprised of two men and two women, who each complete a sprint triathlon: a 300-meter swim, 9-kilometer bike race and 2-kilometer run.
In June the IOC announced that the event will be added to the program for the 2020 Summer Olympics, giving triathletes around the world another shot at a medal. When the U.S. defends its mixed relay title this weekend in Hamburg, it could be a preview of the Tokyo Games.
“I think it’s one of our best medal chances,” said Ben Kanute, one of Kasper’s teammates from last year’s relay.
“We’re going to see a big focus from [U.S. Triathlon] and a lot of athletes to get on the relay team too, because I think we have a lot of good athletes that fit that style of racing.”
While the event is new to the Olympics, the ITU Mixed Team Relay World Championships have been held annually since 2009.
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Kasper and Kanute were joined by Gwen Jorgensen and Joe Maloy to win the USA’s first title in Hamburg last year. They did so with a final time of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 29 seconds, or roughly 20 minutes per leg.
“Having the fast-paced dynamic and a team aspect definitely helps make that fun and more interesting for people to watch,” Kasper said. “It’s a really exciting event, and it’s great for spectators.”
It was an electric finish, as the next three teams — Australia, Germany and France — all finished within a second of each other.
“I think it’s the most exciting format. I love how fast it is,” said Kanute. “The shorter the race, the less room for mistakes … so a small mistake can be the difference between first and fifth.”
In the Olympics, the individual triathlon event is a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40K bike and 10K run. In Rio last summer, Alistair Brownlee of Britain won the men’s gold in 1:45:01, and Jorgensen was the first American woman to win gold in the sport with a time of 1:56:16.
“I think it’s good to have some variety, to have a sprint like that and then to have the Olympic distance on the other end,” Kanute said. “It can kind of show who the best triathlete really is, and who the most dominant country is.”
While the details for the Olympic competition are still being ironed out, U.S. triathlon officials won’t announce the mixed relay lineup until the night before the race, after seeing how triathletes fared in the individual competitions. For Sunday’s championship, athletes will find out sometime around dinnertime on Saturday.
They do know one thing: neither Jorgensen nor Maloy will defend their title, as neither traveled to Hamburg. Jorgensen will be following the action from Portland, as she is just three weeks out from giving birth.
“I’ll watch it live if I can, but if not, I’ll wake up and tell my husband not to tell me who won,” she said. “I hope they become back-to-back champions. I’m definitely cheering them on. It will be exciting with a lot of lead changes.”
Though it will certainly be a different group than the one that took the podium last year, U.S. triathletes are still confident about their options.
“I think team USA is very strong in our women’s and men’s programs, so there are a lot of candidates that could race well this weekend,” said Kasper, who is currently No. 1 in the World Triathlon Series Rankings.
“Our women’s program, there’s been three different women on the podium at the World Triathlon Series this year, so there’s a lot of strong people that could do that.”
The triathlon team relay will be one of nine mixed gender events added to the slate for Tokyo, doubling the amount from Rio. According to the IOC, this will help meet the organization’s goals of moving toward gender balance.
