Right! He won Edmonton injured...

Unfortunately I now have Joel Filliols comments running through my head.

Could you perhaps remind us which ones you mean?

I guess he is talking about ED-op on doping in triathlon.

With the return of the WTS, we are back at publishing text in english.

Just in case you are interested by our preview, it is a little longer... http://wp.me/p18RJa-bZz

Exciting racing today! We have a up-and-comer in Luis who has really had a breakout year. Mario Mola runs a 13:55 over 5k, oh man. And Vicky Holland gives Gwen a run for her money.

Next up for many of these athletes is Rio on Aug. 2. But Gwen being one of the great triathletes in ITU history doesn't need to prove herself again right? Wrong.

"she next heads to Rio de Janeiro for the ITU World Olympic Qualification Event on Aug. 2. The top two U.S. finishers in the top eight overall automatically earn a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team." http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/...-triathlon-olympics/

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

team usa tomorrow is gwen, tomlin, kanute and zafares.

does anyone know who spain and the uk are using? i assume germany will rally the troops and put on a good showing.

Sarah, Katie and the other US women who swim front pack will be looking to drop Gwen on those steep hills to snag the spots. Given the way Gwen has been biking this year, it'll be tough to drop her AND put in 2 minutes into her before T2.

If Gwen has a mechanical or crash - or not top 8 - at Rio, what are her options for qualifying?

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

Yes. Vicky Holland very nearly won over Gwen. Just goes to show Rio is not a shoe-in.:-)

Ah yes, I forgot about the team relay event tomorrow. Wonder if Gwen will have the fastest run split again this year...

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

i have a hard time thinking that gwen will be able to put 2 minutes on the field on the run after that bike course. rio is an uber strength course. then again, gwen has been racing so well this year that it wouldn't shock me.

chicago would be next up for qualifying but if sarah and katie are both in the top 8 (and not gwen) chicago is out and the 3rd spot will be awarded at a yet unannounced event in 2016. it's safe to say that grabbing 1 of the 2 possible slots in rio is a BIG deal and at least one of gwen, katie or sarah will come up short. they currently are ranked 1-2-3 in the world. this situation has to be fairly unique in sports -- having the top 3 ranked athletes in the world in a sport going into an olympic trials that only has 2 spots up for grabs.

Will be lots of drama! Maybe the emotion of Huerta in San Diego - that was awesome.

Tomlin isn't strong on the bike yet - she got dropped at a hilly world cup, so wouldn't likely close ground to come into T2 with the others.

I think Katie may be the strongest on the bike of the US women - not sure about her climbing for Rio - but I'd expect a small pack off the front with the weak bikers dropping on the hills - and Katie looks more like a strength runner which bodes well for Rio.

Sarah may be sad.

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

For Spain, Mola and Gomez will not race...

For the Brits, Stanford, Holland, Benson and Buckimgham.

interesting, the brothers polyanskiy will race for russian, there weren't doing the individual.

Australian might be the favourite. The french will be serious contender if the girls can handle it.

I honestly believe that the swim in rio will be really tricky. With the current and the wave, we might see some surprises.

But yes, Zaferes is the strongest on the bike, not sure see have the complete technical skills for the downhills.

Also, it might be really different with Spirig around.

2 things about that:

1 - Just couch coaching but...why would Spirig race Rio this year? If she beats Gwen, Gwen will know what she has to do for the following year. (Probably get stronger on the bike). If Spirig fails to beat Gwen, her confidence will take a beating.

2 - I assume Sutton will instruct Spirig to ride through Gwen in Rio and put as much time into her as possible so that Gwen doesn't run her down. He can't be expecting Spirig to outrun Gwen.

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Advocating for research & treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
http://www.meaction.net/about/what-is-me/

"Suck it up, Buttercup"
(me, to myself, every day)

because it's the only time before the olympics that she will be able to ride the course. the experience and knowledge gained in this dress rehearsal will be extremely valuable in the actual olympics. with that being said, you are right in thinking that it might be best not to tip her hand here. however, everyone knows it's spirig's superior biking against gwen's superior running so, even if spirig puts in a monster bike and wins by a lot, it's not like what matters in rio will change.

i have to say that this course is exponentially better than london's in so many ways and creates so much more strategy and drama.

this situation has to be fairly unique in sports -- having the top 3 ranked athletes in the world in a sport going into an olympic trials that only has 2 spots up for grabs.//

Not so unique, this has been a big problem for our swimmers ever since they went to the only 2 qualify standard. And a few times in track and field you might find it, but i believe 3 still qualify in events there.

Spirig is really just coming back in to form. She has nothing to lose, if Gwen beats her, no big deal she is just on her way in to getting back to form. If she wins, then that will put serious doubts in Gwen.

There has been so much talk about the course and how it will shape the race, you just can't pass up a chance to race on it before the big show.

when were our swimmers ranked 1, 2 AND 3 in the world in an event going into the OTs? even if that had happened, you can't compare swimming to triathlon because swimming is so diluted with almost identical events and relays with relay pools. if you are ranked 3rd in the world in the 200 free and come in 3rd at the OTs, then you can come back in the 100 or 400 or 800 and most definitely will be make the team in at least 1 relay pool.

track is different too because there are 3 spots so the person ranked 3rd in the world can come in 3rd and make the team (i realize that triathlon has 3 spots but only max 2 are up for grabs in rio). when has a country even had the top 3 athletes in an event? kenya in the steeple? kenya is so corrupt you could be the #1 ranked steepler and left home because you didn't pay the right person enough money! all those years the USA dominated the sprints via PEDs, there always was a ben johnson, ato bolden, frankie fredericks or lynford christie on the podium.

i can't emphasize the importance of being one of the first 2 americans in rio because you then can set up your training schedule for the next year to peak for rio in 2016. if you are the odd woman out, you will have to set up a completely different training schedule that will have to be first aimed at peaking for an unknown race in an unknown month next year and then regrouping and trying to peak again several months later in rio. that hardly is ideal and you also will have risk of having a mechanical or crash or off day in the spring race and not even making the team.

if you ask me, USAT has really screwed the selection process up and should have said top 5 at rio, even if you are 3rd american, makes the team. how ridiculous will it be if the american women go 1-2-3 and the 3rd placed woman has to explain to the rest of the world, who isn't aware of USAT's byzantine selection process, that the 3rd american who was 3rd in basically a world championship, isn't good enough just to make the american olympic team?

"you can't compare swimming to triathlon because swimming is so diluted with almost identical events and relays with relay pools. if you are ranked 3rd in the world in the 200 free and come in 3rd at the OTs, then you can come back in the 100 or 400 or 800 and most definitely will be make the team in at least 1 relay pool."

Ummm, just a minor point but the term is "relay team", not relay pool. As for swimming being "so diluted by almost identical events", actually track and field at the 2012 games had 24 events for men, 23 for women, whereas swimming had only 17 for both men and women. If you think many of the swim events are "almost identical", swim 200 of each stroke plus a 200 IM during your next workout and let us know if they are really all the same:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

um, it's a relay pool because each relay event allows for more than 4 athletes so studs like phelps don't have to do the prelims. there are a plenty of swimmers walking around today with gold medals who next to nobody has heard of who were in street clothes when their relay gold medal was won (i have met some of them). in all fairness, the same goes for t&f with the 4x1 and 4x4 but at least those 2 relays are different enough that it is extraordinary for someone to be on both (felix usually is and bolt sometimes is).

your attempt to show that track and field is more diluted than swimming was feeble but i'll bite. someone who does the hammer does not also do the marathon. someone who does the 100 does not also do the 10,000. however, someone who does the 100 free also can do the 200 free, 400 free, 100 fly, 200 fly, 400 fly, 4x100 free, 4x200 free and 4x100 medley (basically what michael phelps did). bolt could win that many golds in track and field if the iaaf decided to go the swimming route and massively dilute the events by adding the 150, 300, the 4x200 and sprint medley for good measure. the events are so varied in t&f that nobody even attempts the 400/800 double (never mind a 100/200/400/800 quadruple).

You are the ONLY person I have EVER heard use the term "relay pool" but i get your point. And no swimmer since 1964 has ever swum both the 100 and 400 free; the 100 and 200 sure but the 100 is very like the 400 in track and the 400 free is analogous to the 1500 m in track, and you never see any 400 m runners in the 1500 either. Look, I'll grant you there is more variety in swimming but Carl Lewis won 4 golds in 100, 200, long jump, and 4 x 100 relay, so track guys can win multiple medals. Maybe not 8 but still 4 is a bunch. Also, there is no "400 fly" in swimming, you're prob thinking of 400 IM. Just for the record, Phelps's 8 golds were in 100/200 fly, 200 free, 200/400 IM, and the three relays. It takes a huge amount of ability to be able to be that versatile, which is why no one had ever done it before. I do think that they really should not count the relays in terms of a person's total medals, since obv winning a relay is dependent on having three other world-class mates. When comparing total medals, they should just use individual events, IMO.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I'm a little surprised yesterday's women's race hasn't excited more comment. Would anyone have predicted that Gwen would only win by 5 seconds? And that she was authentically pushed? It was a marvelous performance by Vicky Holland who, in my interpretation, decided to hang on come what may and found out that she could. Vicky will never be as a good a runner as Gwen of course, but it shows that she can be pushed. It was also great to see Non Stanford coming back to form (after her 18 month injury absence) and I think she is even more likely to run Gwen close in the long term.

What was also interesting was that Gwen, as per usual, was very casual in transition, and that allowed Vicky and Non (who positioned themselves well going into T2) to build a lead that GJ took quite a while to pull back. It shows that on a course Rio, there is a finite chance that someone fast on the bike (and I think Non and Vicky are both better cyclists on tough courses) could possibly get a big enough lead going into the run to possibly beat her. GJ is still the favourite but I think the other girls now have a ray of hope.

In the men's race, it was great to see Vincent Luis finally win. In the past, he has frustrated me by his habit of hanging on the back of a bike pack (Stockholm 2014) as if he doesn't believe he can improve his chances by biking hard. But yesterday, he shared the work and reaped the rewards. Mola's 13.55 5K run was ridiculous but then again, his habit of wheel sucking in the second pack does make a fast run easier.

Altogether, two cracking races.

when were our swimmers ranked 1, 2 AND 3 in the world in an event going into the OTs? even if that had happened, you can't compare swimming to triathlon because swimming is so diluted with almost identical events and relays with relay pools.//


So if i give you any examples( and there are plenty out there where we had 1,2, and 3) you are just going to ignore them, because of relay pools? That statement makes absolutely no sense at all, I can see you are not familiar with swimming at the top levels. Carry on with your assumptions, however incorrect.

ignore them? no. say that it's not even remotely comparable if you are ranked 3rd in the world in a swimming event, come in 3rd at your OTs to the 1 and 2 ranked swimmers but nonetheless make your olympic team (and probably pick up several medals) after being named to multiple relays? yes. it's not like the odd american woman out in rio gets to fall back on being named to a super sprint relay at the olympics (although that would be nice if it were to get added in the future). the fact that you think these situations are analogous is what makes no sense.