I hope she has a successful comeback. However, chances are that it will difficult. Whenever the momentum is broken, it is hard to return to the magic that once was. I wish her luck.
ya. She said she was returning to tri. she will get destroyed. Time to get a job. though she seems to have an endless supply of money.
That's happens when you become the first american to win a gold medal in a sport. For all her set-backs she won when it counted. Having a master degree in finance and being a CPA probably doesn't hurt when managing money as an athlete.
You can't blame her too much for switching to running, she just won a gold medal in triathlon and ran a 2:36 marathon - she clearly had some potential and she had motivation and an opportunity to explore it. It wasn't as great as hoped, but she did try and didn't burn herself out (which would have happened in tri)/
Hold up - she ran 2:41 after Rio, the 2:36 didn't come until 2years later in 2018
and she went from high volumes of training hours per week to running a Marathon time that plenty of female club runners have done. 2:41 isn't an indicator to change sports and progressing to 2:36 and then not improving on it for 4years
I'd like to join that club of female runners which crank out 2:41 marathons on a hilly course 71 days after minting gold at the olympics?
I'd agree she was a bit cautious with her 2 marathon efforts and should have been more dedicated, but also there was so much crap written about her. It's the perils of being at the top - every slight mess up you make is micro-analysed and people act like they can do better or they know better (they can't). Let's not forget the winner of the trials was Aliphine Tuliamuk who did not perform at the olympics, and does not have performances that seem to be much different than Gwen.
certainly transitioning to be a parent, the drama at bowerman, and covid was not a good recipe for a smooth sport transition. Her decisions seem rational, she looks at what she has in her potential at that moment, and shoots for that. The 5km was a rational decision for the circumstances. Do I wish she would have just dedicated herself to the insane goals like Sara hall? yes, in a way, and I think that's good/better for the sport. Do I think it's a healthy example she transitions to realistic goals considering her family and life circumstances? Yes.
I wouldn't compare her to Eliud skiing as he built his method in his sport in his country with his family nearby (yes he's away from them during his camp, but they are in the same country), while gwen was living in spain/australia and I get that she wanted to come home and be with family/build a family and made decisions to support those circumstances including transitioning to a different sport which as I mentioned she had motivation, aptitude and opportunity. I'm amazed at all the male athletes that travel to Africa for months at time while their wives and children stay at home -it's needed to win but it's a bit too much.
Going to skiing from running is not the same as running from triathlon - try and compare apples with apples. Skiing you need to learn, if you are a triathlete you don't need to learn how to run, but you need to be a better runner.
yeah you got me on the last shot, but that was my assumption i thought the marathon was the last shot, for the triathlon it seems like the last shot will be determined by next summer, it's a tight squeeze and a challenge. But if anyone can pull it off, she can, and that's not saying she will. Even kipchoge failed his first attempt to go sub 2. Also brain fart with her marathon time post-olympics.
Hold up - she ran 2:41 after Rio, the 2:36 didn't come until 2years later in 2018
and she went from high volumes of training hours per week to running a Marathon time that plenty of female club runners have done. 2:41 isn't an indicator to change sports and progressing to 2:36 and then not improving on it for 4years
I'd agree she was a bit cautious with her 2 marathon efforts and should have been more dedicated, but also there was so much crap written about her (1). It's the perils of being at the top - every slight mess up you make is micro-analysed and people act like they can do better or they know better (they can't). Let's not forget the winner of the trials was Aliphine Tuliamuk who did not perform at the olympics, and does not have performances that seem to be much different than Gwen.(2)
certainly transitioning to be a parent, the drama at bowerman (3), and covid (4) was not a good recipe for a smooth sport transition. Her decisions seem rational, she looks at what she has in her potential at that moment, and shoots for that. The 5km was a rational decision for the circumstances. Do I wish she would have just dedicated herself to the insane goals like Sara hall? yes, in a way, and I think that's good/better for the sport. Do I think it's a healthy example she transitions to realistic goals considering her family and life circumstances? Yes. (5)
1- Elite athletes don't negatively adjust the pace they go out in a race based on journalists' comments, they go out based on their training and then either stick it or don't, so caution is not to do with the press. Also only 2 attempts at the Marathon is barely giving it a go. 2 - 2015 Aliphine (with slower 5K/10K PR's) ran 1min quicker over HM than current Gwen ever has. Aliphine's debut Marathon was also 7mins quicker than Gwen's debut Marathon at a time where they had the same 10K PR. 3 - all of Gwen's peak Bowerman race performances were prior to the Shelby implosion (which was Jun '21) so not impacted by it. 4 - Covid, a long period without racing allowing athletes to focus on their training was actually the perfect time for an athlete to transition and adjust to the Marathon and it's training demands 5 - I agree, but don't believe she's transitioning to realistic goals for family reasons (especially with these timelines, the time out of the sport of Tri, and bringing in an au pair to look after the kids for her), instead I think once again she's moving to what she believes to be the easiest route for her now. She clearly thought Marathoning would be easier - a la claiming she'll target "winning the Olympic Marathon" - which she has admitted was misguided, and now likely thinks transitioning back will be easy because she was once a world-beater at the sport of Tri.
ya. She said she was returning to tri. she will get destroyed. Time to get a job. though she seems to have an endless supply of money.
No. She won't get destroyed. She WRECKED the field on the run in her day, and things haven't changed that much on the woman's side since 2016. She'll easily get her swim and bike back to the point where she can stay connected with the main pack. And she's the fastest runner in the field. She will put 30-45s into Flora Duffy in the 10km... plus Flora is 35yo too.
If she actually goes for the Olympic tri and not just the relay, I think she can go into 2024 as... the favorite.
I think triathlon has only gotten better since she has left. The announcement seems more/less clear from her/USAT. It's a partnership. She's giving them some exposure and she's getting some money. They'll do a lot of press on what it's like to be a mother & high level triathlete in an attempt to grow female participation in the sport. It's a good thing and I'm happy to see her back.
The announcement focused on the mixed relay. I'm not sure if she has the time to make the 3 person team. Knibb & Spivey are locks. Katie Zaferes is coming back after maternity leave. Summer Rappaport made the Olympic team last cycle. Gwen can definitely do well enough at some Continental Cups to give her the criteria to be selected to the mixed relay. Then USAT gets three out of the other four mentioned women to focus on the individual race. You could have 3 for the individual and a new 2 for the relay and keep everyone fresh. The talent is there.
I think triathlon has only gotten better since she has left. The announcement seems more/less clear from her/USAT. It's a partnership. She's giving them some exposure and she's getting some money. They'll do a lot of press on what it's like to be a mother & high level triathlete in an attempt to grow female participation in the sport. It's a good thing and I'm happy to see her back.
The announcement focused on the mixed relay. I'm not sure if she has the time to make the 3 person team. Knibb & Spivey are locks. Katie Zaferes is coming back after maternity leave. Summer Rappaport made the Olympic team last cycle. Gwen can definitely do well enough at some Continental Cups to give her the criteria to be selected to the mixed relay. Then USAT gets three out of the other four mentioned women to focus on the individual race. You could have 3 for the individual and a new 2 for the relay and keep everyone fresh. The talent is there.
Has woman's triathlon gotten that much better since she left? Flora Duffy... the current gold medalist... is 35. She's great, and a great runner, but not in Gwen's class in 2016. I jus don't se it. and Gwen can absolutely demolish Rappaport on the run (Well, all three of them really). Sure, if it isn't her focus, then she won't. but if she puts in the time like before - she'll beat all three and get onto the US team. It's not like she was sitting around doing nothing since 2016... she was instead focusing on the most important and difficult to improve part of the event.
Nobody will be ‘locks’ ,it’ll be a bunfight to make the U.S team again if a similar qualifying criteria is applied .Rappaport was pretty inconsistent in her results but won one of the World Cup races which is what got her in as per the criteria .Spivey was very consistent through the World Cup series much more so than Rappaport often high up but missed the exact criteria hence having to go to the committee decision up against Zaferes .Knibb hit the criteria in the season being pretty consistent but with some very high placings .I bet U.S Tri were tearing their hair out about Rappaport getting the preselection as both zaferes and Spivey are/were much more trustworthy for the team relay both technically on the bike and as consistent performers .I’am sure this time around Spivey will definitely’curate’ her season better .For those interested in athletes ‘real world’ in-race 10km times ,World Triathlon’s site has all the disciplines splits for all the athletes for the top tier World Series/Cup events archived .It’s all waffle until the qualifying period starts ,the pre-Tokyo World Cup series was fascinating from a U.S qualifying perspective as GB and some other nations had preselected some athletes before the series had started
I don't remember one good running race she ran... also the last time she won a triathlon was more than 5 years ago.
I don't know, depends on what your expectations were. She finished 9th in the Olympic trials in the 5k. For me that is a pretty good race for her, but maybe not given her publically bold ambitions. Her PBs of 15:08 and 31:55 while nothing special, they weren't bad or anything. She's been polarizing because she doesn't back up her words with amazing performances, but I'd still say she had a couple of "good" runs.
Exactamundo! Yall have a high ceiling for a "decent runner". How many gal triathletes run 31 for 10K? I dont know im asking?
Who knows, she was awfully dominant internationally for a short period of time, with the right trraining I wouldnt doubt her one bit. She's got a good physical set up for tri.
ya. She said she was returning to tri. she will get destroyed. Time to get a job. though she seems to have an endless supply of money.
No. She won't get destroyed. She WRECKED the field on the run in her day, and things haven't changed that much on the woman's side since 2016. She'll easily get her swim and bike back to the point where she can stay connected with the main pack. And she's the fastest runner in the field. She will put 30-45s into Flora Duffy in the 10km... plus Flora is 35yo too.
If she actually goes for the Olympic tri and not just the relay, I think she can go into 2024 as... the favorite.
Flora may be 35 but Gwen will be 38 in 2024. That's not exactly an age that produces fast mile times (particularly from someone who had ZERO acceleration when she was training full-time to race on the track). MTR is a mile split on the run.
You also clearly don't follow triathlon if you think Flora wasn't "in Gwen's class" on the run in Tokyo. Flora split 33:00 after swimming and biking faster than Gwen ever did in a race. Had Gwen raced Tokyo in her 2016 shape, she would have been dropped on the swim and her race would have been over then because nobody even remotely caught the front pack of the bike. My guess is that she would have lost time on the run too because it's not like she would have split 32-flat while slogging away in a non-chase group that fell further and further behind after each lap of the bike.
Everything case together for Gwen in Rio, with the biggest factor being that the entire field was scared to death of the bike (unlike the men) so the bike wound up being 40K of soft pedaling with Spirig launching some random attacks on the flats, which quickly were covered. Not one woman the entire race attempted to attack the hill. Fast forward to 2022 and the women's races almost always have a lead group on the bike that hammer. There now are many top swimmer/bikers with some who also are strong runners (like GTB).
My big question is whether or not the pressure cooker will travel with her next year?
Flora may be 35 but Gwen will be 38 in 2024. That's not exactly an age that produces fast mile times (particularly from someone who had ZERO acceleration when she was training full-time to race on the track). MTR is a mile split on the run.
You also clearly don't follow triathlon if you think Flora wasn't "in Gwen's class" on the run in Tokyo. Flora split 33:00 after swimming and biking faster than Gwen ever did in a race.
My favorite part is that I don't follow triathlon. :D
You are right - BOTH Flora and Gwen will be 38 in 2024. Likely the person to outrun them both, if they exist, and the probably do, is much younger than that, I will concede that point fully. But I would argue it's not going to be Summer or any of the other established top athletes at the moment.
I expect you know Gwen swam in D1, so it's pretty foolish of you to think she would have been dropped on the swim in 2020. cycling... yeah, totally her weak spot. If good cyclists want to drop her, they can.
D1 swimming is not a guarantee to be a front pack swimmer. Gwen was nowhere near the front of the swim in most races. Even if she were in 2016, the swim is much faster now with the likes of Lucy Charles and Jess L racing.
You also are missing the whole point here. The issue isn't who she can outrun on a 10K because her aim is the relay and not the individual race. What matter is can she swim with the French and GB 2nd legs, then bike with them and then hold on in a mile? My opinion is a resounding no. She never was a strong miler and her lack of speed was so obvious when she was a full-time runner and never had any kick or speed. One does not pick up speed in one's late 30s.
Regardless, Summer is a strawman argument because the 2nd leg currently is Spivey or Knibb both of them can swim, bike and run with all of the top women. That's the bar she has to clear.
She has realistically no chance of making the team, given that she says she is focusing on the mixed team relay as a goal. Bit of info:
In order for her to qualify for the MTR : She must have a minimum ranking in World Triathlon (which I think for Paris '24 it's top 120 in the world). Even though she is going for the MTR she must "qualify" within the individual portion of the event, she can't go to Paris just for the MTR. So she has to obtain that minimum ranking to be eligible to be picked as a discretion spot (USAT will have at minimum 1 discretion spot seeing that the US women have 3 spots almost on lock down, with 5 women in the top 30 right now). So she has about a year to race really well to go from unranked to top 120, as a minimum bar. Thats doable but still a big ask, as she likely doesnt have the time to train up for the full olympic distance, and imo the demands of competition now are 10000% stronger than they were when she raced in Rio. The swim and bike for the women are night and day different than when she was in itu- she won't be able to keep up on s+b and dominate the run like she did 5 years ago. Racing is so different now, no longer seeing weak swimmers or bikers who can do well
Then: USAT would would pick her for the olympics (over one of the women ranked higher than her- would be drama) and then she'd either DNS the individual race to "rest" for the MTR or likely just race it to race it. So she likely would simply skip the individual race and cost the US an individual spot, as usat can't "sub" someone in for her. If she's still chosen, she's on the individual race roster as well as potential for MTR....Obviously with 3 USAT girls likely making the olympics, 1 will not make the MTR team.
My take: - I think she can likely obtain the min ranking to at least be eligible. 1-2 mid pack finishes at a world cup level will get her the points to obtain the min eligibility standard.
-But. I think the swim and bike speeds are so strong now that she's going to struggle.
-USAT choosing to give her an individual spot over Spivey, Knibb, Rappaport, Zaferes, Kasper, Ackerland, and others is a huge risk, with how dominant US women as a country have been.
-Also, she won't really have any opportunity to race MTRs before then to "showcase" her ability, Olympic Committee trusting her to be successful at the very short distance stuff is a leap of faith. And it complicates strategy (what order she'll go, etc)
- All things considered, this is probably all just to keep sponsors for two more years, there's no way this actually comes to fruition.
I suppose the point I was attempting to make was there is certainly a limited competitive base in a sport where even entry level participation costs a truckload on money and is dependant on availability of facilities - competitors are more likely to be those with disposable income and time on their hands - a privileged minority. Baseball just needs a ball and a bat shaped object (broomstick for instance), NFL a ball. Basketball, a ball. Same with football. Lots of people of different backgrounds in those sports. Triathlon, not so much.
Agree with FIFA World Cup announcer who stated that the most competitive sports in the world are running and football (soccer).
Trying to recall an elite runner who had as much trouble getting speed and forward power out of her body as Jorgensen. She is unable to endure racing stress. She flails around like a wind-up toy, spends hours on drills that are supposed to do something beneficial. Good luck to her but the missed years due to injury and pregnancy are never coming back. It's delusional to think she'd make the Olympic team.
Good luck Gwen. Seriously talented and hardworking athlete. Shame it hasn’t worked out for her as a runner, but she’s been a great advertisement for how difficult running is! I really hope that she comes back as a triathlete successfully!
What was her diet like when she was Tri Champion? Was her husband her cook back then too? Currently, she seems to eat an enormous amount of plant fibers. To some people, that could contribute to oxalate over accumulation and actual nutritional deficiencies. Even if she is eating tons of food which seems to be the case from her videos, she physically looks malnourished.
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