the original response was to add balance and reality to some fanboy nonsense claiming lionel has one of the greatest resumes of the last decade, rather than dragging him down.
it's grossly disrespectful to what the other athletes have worked to achieve, to put lionel in that same bracket for a handful of wins against weak fields and a second place in Kona - work that lionel has steadfastly refused to do to get to that level, as he's always thought he knows best, and every year we get a similar post Kona/ end of season video from him.
those who actually belong in that bracket have even multiple Kona / 70.3 WC wins over that period and on top of that, many wins in the biggest races in the sport outside of Kona and the 70.3 WC's, e.g. Frankfurt and Roth, which have always had some of the most competitive fields, whether they mean anything to you or not is irrelevant, along with last years Daytona race - which lionel did not win either.
lionel has a great resume that many would love, but it's far far off 'one of the greatest resumes over the last decade' - and despite that being obvious, even from a quick scan of results, the fanboys still cry about him getting a 2nd in Kona or 4th in Daytona and claiming he's up there with those who actually win these events - and multiple times. there are many European athletes who have achieved very similar results to lionel, who you wouldn't dream of putting in this 'one of the greatest' brackets. difference is, lionel has this cult fanboy club.
as for the dodging races - he's consistently dodged the 70.3 WC's, not just this year, which has historically even been his strongest distance.
this year, very obviously Tulsa had the stronger field over CdA and yet he chose CdA. he then chose the very obviously weaker field in Copenhagen, where even Wurf wasn't due to race until the last moment, over racing Frankfurt. and instead of simply staying in Europe after the Tri Battle, he chose to fly back and forth to the US. many European athletes perfectly well stay in the US for multiple races across months in order to manage their travel and training, but just another thing that lionel wasn't able to handle.
his reasons for choosing the weaker fields are perfectly understandable, but he can't then come out on youtube yelling about how he seeks out racing the best, as he has done many times, while his fanboys pedal this 'he's one of the greatest' nonsense. reality hurts for this group.
Feel the Speed
it's grossly disrespectful to what the other athletes have worked to achieve, to put lionel in that same bracket for a handful of wins against weak fields and a second place in Kona - work that lionel has steadfastly refused to do to get to that level, as he's always thought he knows best, and every year we get a similar post Kona/ end of season video from him.
those who actually belong in that bracket have even multiple Kona / 70.3 WC wins over that period and on top of that, many wins in the biggest races in the sport outside of Kona and the 70.3 WC's, e.g. Frankfurt and Roth, which have always had some of the most competitive fields, whether they mean anything to you or not is irrelevant, along with last years Daytona race - which lionel did not win either.
lionel has a great resume that many would love, but it's far far off 'one of the greatest resumes over the last decade' - and despite that being obvious, even from a quick scan of results, the fanboys still cry about him getting a 2nd in Kona or 4th in Daytona and claiming he's up there with those who actually win these events - and multiple times. there are many European athletes who have achieved very similar results to lionel, who you wouldn't dream of putting in this 'one of the greatest' brackets. difference is, lionel has this cult fanboy club.
as for the dodging races - he's consistently dodged the 70.3 WC's, not just this year, which has historically even been his strongest distance.
this year, very obviously Tulsa had the stronger field over CdA and yet he chose CdA. he then chose the very obviously weaker field in Copenhagen, where even Wurf wasn't due to race until the last moment, over racing Frankfurt. and instead of simply staying in Europe after the Tri Battle, he chose to fly back and forth to the US. many European athletes perfectly well stay in the US for multiple races across months in order to manage their travel and training, but just another thing that lionel wasn't able to handle.
his reasons for choosing the weaker fields are perfectly understandable, but he can't then come out on youtube yelling about how he seeks out racing the best, as he has done many times, while his fanboys pedal this 'he's one of the greatest' nonsense. reality hurts for this group.
Feel the Speed