Colleen Quigley to Triathlon?

No harm looking at second career options. In fact, this is a very smart move on her part considering her injury history and the fact that American steeple competitiveness in in decline (Emma and Courtney are aging out, too many up-and-coming young Africans). IMHO, this is also a good move to maintain sponsorships and media presence.

she crosstrains a lot bc shes injury prone. shes still trying to be on the track through 2024, will maybe try to transition to the Tri after that.

people forget how talented she is. if she can just stop overdoing the xtraining, i think she has a solid chance at paris. not many women have 8:28 3k flat speed.

I'm pretty sure she said she was going to switch to triathlon after 2024.

From September 2022 newsletter:

Swim, bike, run?
If it seems like I've been posting more biking and swimming content/workouts lately and you're wondering if I'm training for a triathlon, I'll just say... you're not crazy for thinking that! Here's the deal...

I have a confession:
Remember last month when I went to Colorado Springs to train at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center for a week?

Well, I was actually sneakily attending a camp hosted by USA Triathlon meant for runners who are interested in converting over to triathlon. 😱

I wasn't sure how it was going to go or how I was even feeling about the whole thing, so I decided not to say anything quite yet. But camp was so fun! And I'm definitely interested in pursuing triathlon at some point.

The thing is: I'm not done pursuing my goals on the track.

So what I've decided to do is continue to train for the steeplechase through this Olympic cycle (Paris 2024 is already around the corner!) and then if I'm still feeling it I'll switch to triathlon after that.

Thank you for the update. I'm not subscribed to her newsletter

Happy to hear she's interested in still being competitive. I had heard she was calling it quits to try the influencer route.

me too. but tbh I think she's just doing both at the same time.

Can Quigley actually ride a bike? Like I mean really know how to ride a bike and be comfortable racing in packs with other triathletes and not wimp/crash out? Lots of pro runners seems to think it's easy to be competitive in triathlons and greatly overestimate their biking ability. Maybe she should do some beginner bike races before declaring herself a professional triathlete.

I have more faith in her than Mary Cain.

Wrong. She does not want to get her hari wet. 😂

The bike is the easiest of the three events to pick up and she looks like she has the build to be very good on the bike. I would expect her to be very strong on the bike once she's puts some miles in. The swim is going to be the hardest part for her and could be the downfall of her being very competitive. If she can become strong enough on the swim, in order to stay with the top group, She'll be a top triathlete.

Gwen's only shot is the standard distance and as the third spot. Both Taylors are superior bikers over Gwen. Gwen will never get the relay spot she is trying for because she can get dropped and lose time for the team. Both Taylors can bridge up and close gaps or breakaway off the front, they are strong enough. They would not get gapped then dropped like Gwen.

Mixed relays is only 2 females (chosen from the 3 that qualify individually for the standard distance)

Quigley has ZERO chance for 2024 for anything, individual or relay. Qualifying for Paris starts in a couple months.

Prior posters suggest Quigley will transition to triathlon AFTER Paris 2024. She said she wants to make the track team for Paris. I know she's going heavy on the influencer stuff, and the videos can come off as frivolous, but Quigley is a tough athlete and a gamer. She just happens to look like a Greek statue, and this sometimes dupes people into forgetting that she's a beast in competition.

I'm a Quigley fan. After 2024, anything is possible. I was an Alan Webb triathlon fan before. And a Verzbicus fan before that. and Greg Whitely fan before that.

The bigger disconnect is Gwen getting one of two relay spots for 2024. She has a solid chance at one of three spots for the standard distance though. She will make a lot of progress through 2023 and by 2024 she might be getting closer to her old form.

not sure if im alone in this opinion, but i still think colleen is running the wrong event. I've always felt she excelled in a week event but was probably a better 1500 runner than steepler.

Isn't it true that in triathlons you cannot "draft" (ride directly behind another competitor), so there is no "riding in packs"?

Quigley's sub 8:30 3000m was one of these time-trials on the superfast Boston indoor track, IIRC, so it might not transfer to other races. But in that form she should have a shot at 8:55 or faster in the steeple and this gets one as far or further as 3:56-57 she would never be able to run despite being a very good 1500m runner. I think the only current steepler faster than Quigley in the 1500/3000 is Chepkoech (who might never come back in her best shape). As she was usually only 3rd best of the US steeplers she cannot quite bring her superior flat speed to the steeple.

Olympic and ITU triathlons are draft legal events where triathletes ride their bikes in packs because it makes for better TV viewing that watching single riders for 5 hours doing nothing like in the Ironman format.