First, a big "High 5" to all the triathlon fans who have participated in this thread while providing correct information as well as perspective on Olympic-distance triathlon training and racing.
Here is the Running Times magazine feature-length piece on LV that I should have posted in the first message of this thread, to lay the foundation for this discussion:
http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19585&PageNum=1
It is in this lengthy piece that he and his triathlon club coach, Keith Dickson, repeatedly state their intentions of preparing LV for the Olympic Triathlon in 2012.
Note that Kevin McDowell, 3rd at World Jr. Tri on Sunday, is LV's teammate.
Here are a couple of passages that resonate with this discussion:
"What the running community doesn't understand is that he's a very good runner, but he's a world champion-caliber triathlete," Dickson says. "Lukas can sweep the table in triathlon if he stays focused and keeps improving. I think he understands that and how much fun that would be, along with the idea that you can make a lot of money as a pro triathlete. But at the end of the day, he's not looking that far forward. He loves running and he loves triathlon. But underneath all of that, he wants to be an Olympian."
"A more interesting scenario regarding his eligibility is that he could be a professional triathlete by the time he's a senior, regardless if he's earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. And there is an outside possibility his junior cross country season this fall -- when he'll be shooting for Virgin's historic Illinois record -- could be his last season as a prep runner, if he and his coaches decide to go full-bore into triathlon leading up to the 2011 races that will serve as the first Olympic qualifiers."
By the way, in interviews with LV following his FootLocker XC win back in December, he stated that his US citizenship was imminent. He was expecting a confirmation letter to be arriving within a week or so. I have not read more on this topic, but I presume he now is a U.S. citizen.
Well, he's back running xc with his Carl Sandburg H.S. team. First races will be in October. Illinois' high school state meet is the first Saturday of November. There, he most likely will be taking another shot at Craig Virgin's 13:51 3-mile course record (from 1972) at DetWeiller Park in Peoria.
Stan Ford Jr.