Here is a quote from this article...I must say this is all very cool and I think any of us can absolutely relate with the motivations even though we've never really won anything athletically of real magnitude such as her Olympic Gold:
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/11/race-coverage/brett-sutton-nicola-spirig-racing-ironman-cozumel_109950
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/11/race-coverage/brett-sutton-nicola-spirig-racing-ironman-cozumel_109950
So why is she competing in her debut Ironman now? Easy. Because she can. Because it’s a challenge. Because it’s fun and all her training partners are going to be there. Should she, or any other competitor on the start line need any more reason? Absolutely not.
As for the heavies who want to put the pressure on about how ‘you need to start to get serious now because you’ll miss your qualifying points’, they are completely missing the point. You’re talking to someone who had not just the courage, but freedom of thought to compete in a half Ironman 13 days before winning the Olympics. If you think she’s going to blink over this you’re sadly mistaken.
As for the race in Cozumel itself. Is she ready? Training-wise not even close. She’s spent the year running, not riding. But that’s also beside the point. Like most other age-group athletes Nicola goes into this race under-prepared but with a smile on her face and an apprehension in her heart about whether she’s got what it takes to complete an Ironman. We will see the answer to that [this weekend].