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2004 Triathlon World Champs -
Queenstown, New Zealand
My race was atrocious to be totally honest. I
lacked my usual dynamic oomph.
by Daniel Clout,
DanielClout.net
My expectations for the
quality of this years’ Triathlon world championship were fulfilled. This was
mainly because of the superb location that is like no other along with
having the top Triathletes in the world there and an extremely exciting
course.
It was my first time I have
traveled near the bottom of the South Island and I was simply blown away by
the magnificence of the place. The uniqueness and tranquility of the South
Island definitely surpasses that of the North Island where I have grown up.
I departed an early 8 days
before my race with my parents. We decided for a scenic trip of driving a
good portion from Christchurch to Queenstown. My adrenalin kicked in
early and I was especially anxious to reach the destination so
consequently got pulled over and ticketed by the cunning officer hiding off
the road. His advice to me that at least gave us some amusement was “Save
the speed for the race.”
The remarkable weather in
Queenstown seemed to showcase all it’s beauty by radiating its
characteristic mountains, crystal clean waters and clean green image. It
definitely put me in high spirits and I went about the week training on the
awesome course and soaking it all in while conserving as much energy as I
could. Swimming in Lake Hayes, the most photographed lake in New Zealand was a nice
refreshing 15 C. The cycle course was one that I thought was truly awesome,
the best I have seen with plenty of hills where the age groupers experienced
more rural NZ and more challenging course compared to the elite who did 7
laps through Arrowtown. The cycle course was the only thing that differed
between age groupers and the Elite . The run was superb too with doing 4
laps within the classy Millbrook Resort, that provided nice steep hills and
beautiful scenery running through their Golf Course and having the mountains
with some snow on them in the back ground. This world champs had an element
of unusualness although not necessarily a bad thing but quite simply very
different from all the other world champs I’ve been to that have been held
in populated areas. The hype was in Queenstown but the race held in a very
small Arrowntown where two transition areas complicated things slightly.
I immensely enjoyed the
atmosphere of both the Aquathlon World Champs and the Parade of nations in
the build up to the weekend of triathlon racing. The parade was a very
special occasion for me with showing my changing of alliances. Felt a bit
strange at first since my previous 4 world champs I have always
patriotically worn black and white. Saying that however this change
definitely didn’t seem out of place, as I know in my heart I have done the
right thing by supporting the nation that supports me. I wore the USA
uniform with pride and even tied my USA flag around my neck wearing it as a
cape. Out of all the Americans it seemed funny that local kids were singling
me (a kiwi in disguise - haha) out for my autograph.
My race was atrocious to be
totally honest. I lacked my usual dynamic oomph and struggled immensely
through each discipline. Where my strength is usually my strength and a
course so hilly and challenging should have showed my talent but the
opposite happened. Reason being I unfortunately I burnt myself out just 5
weeks before that race so I pretty much kissed bye my chances of peaking and
getting a solid place or worthy time to reflect my dedication I have put
forth throughout the year for this race. I guess it was rather a miracle I
managed to compete and finish when I could barely run 5mins 4 weeks earlier.
I came 48th in the middle of my field. I ran in with both a New Zealand flag
and American flag to symbolize my love for both countries. Frustrating my
result indeed but not the end of the world. I haven’t lost heart, instead I
am looking forward to an exciting 2004 where no doubt I will redeem myself
many times over.
There’s nothing quite as
spectacular as watching the pros right there on the course. Being the day
after we raced was a beauty way for us to wind down and have fun. The
women’s race was exciting with it being a battle between Americans and
Aussies. I was really impressed with young Emma Snowsill from Oz blitzing
the older and more experience women on the run course. Laura Reback from US
won silver and Michellie Jones from Australia claimed bronze. The men’s
race was frankly a huge disappointment except for some stellar commitment by
an Aussie and a Swiss. I had high expectations of the Kiwis’ giving it a
solid go and medalling but they seemed only interested in gaining Olympic
selection. There were only 2 guys in the entire field who I respect for
showing the right attitude towards racing. Peter Roberson and Olivier
Marceau!!! They broke the pack on the bike at the start and the monstrous
pack just sat up, watched and let them go. These guys showed the guts and
determination of real athletes by cycling hard, which inevitably gave them a
2min lead going into the run from the lethargic bunch. The race became too
predicable because Robbo would never be caught for he’s an exceptional
runner. He was highly worthy of gold for giving his best throughout the
whole race. High credit to Marceau for his Bronze, being caught only by the
fast running Ivan Rana – last years world Champion. New Zealand did do well
overall with the best claiming a 4th Bevan Docherty, 5th Hamish Carter and
7th Craig Watson. I thought it was a disgrace the lack of
motivation from the mammoth
cycling pack – especially with out spoken comments by athletes such as Kris
Gemmell and Number 1 world ranked Greg Bennett claiming before the race they
would chase any down any break away. I think it was a great shame Craig
Walton (the powerful Aussie who is the best Non drafting exponent in the
world) wasn’t allowed to race because I think he would have kicked
some serious ass since he races hard from start to finish and this was his
kind of course. The absence of Hunter Kemper meant there were no Americans
to excel. I’m sure though in a few years that Americans will be the force of
men’s Triathlon since USA Triathlon are doing a superb job in helping young
talent.
I would love to see Elite
Triathlon go back to Non-drafting to make the cycle more significant and
fair. However Triathlon is fast becoming a big spectators sport especially
now it’s reached the Olympics so we have to take the bad with the good. I
only hope I can raise my game within a few years to race these guys and show
a winning attitude with racing with heart, guts and determination towards
aiming for victory. Shouldn’t one back themselves to win every race?
Especially a world championship?!!
I wish everyone all the best
for 2004. A new year to start off with a clean slate! Go confidently in the
direction of your dreams and make of what your heart desires.
Daniel Clout (Kiwi fella who
speaks his mind!)
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