He's a professional athlete that is paid for appearing and by his sponsors. He doesn't need to podium at Kona for it to be a beneficial week in terms of exposure for him and his sponsors.

I think that he has this in his back pocket so that he can decide long before Tokyo whether he will go for Tokyo or Kona. I certainly don't think he will start both races.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

….and he wins it in a course record 8:18:59

Swim:47:17
T1:2:13
Bike:4:32:46
T2:2:00
Run:2:54:44


Andy Potts comes in 9:00:30 for 5th place 'cause I figure you Yanks would want to know.

Per IM MALAYSIA blog:

3 hours ago
Gomez has stated that his goal for 2020 is the Tokyo Olympics but that he wants to race in Hawaii next year to provide experience in his plan to make 2021 all about the Big Island. Let's not forget he has won 5 ITU World Championships, 2 70.3 World Championships, 1 Xterra World title and the ITU World Long Distance crown.

Olympics is July 27th. That's 10 weeks before Kona.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

Yeah I don’t know what their training plans look like but the speed gained from training for Oly coupled with the distance he would do for that event would give him a very nice base for Kona....maybe not to win but put himself in a very good position.

Makes more sense to me now why he's qualified for Kona, but for me if he has any chance of getting a medal, he has to completely focus on Oly distance only next year.

How is a 37 year olds body going to hold up peaking for July 27th and then going on to race Kona??

If Gomez wins Gold, I'll be surprised if he then goes on to race Kona.

What would he do instead? Get some experience, have some fun, and satisfy sponsors are all great reasons for him to go to Kona.

It’s impossible to say for sure, but you have to think he would have no chance of a top place in Kona after Tokyo but it’s not all about that.

He is clearly focussed on the olympics and will go to hawaii not for the win but for experience. He will have great speed in his body but 10 weeks will not be enough time to get the distance in for a win. He is smart and patient.

I agree.

I think he goes to Kona, swims FOP, bikes FOP, and runs in a respectable time but I don't see him killing himself on the run going for the win.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Gomez is a winner! He wants to win races, I'm sure his sponsorship wants him winning races too (I imagine he's one of the Top 5 best paid in the Sport there)

He's already done his Kona experience race, I don't think he wants to go and have a nice day out.

Cant remember the last time he's been on the FOP for the bike leg in an IM distance, that isn't his forte at all... swim FOP for sure tho!

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

Today he was!

Kool, any strong cyclists in the race?

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Speed kills unless you have speed skills!!!

Considering he had only raced two Ironman distance races in his lifetime before this one, not much memory is needed. A quick search reversals 6, 16 and 2 are his bike positions for 2, 11, 1 overall.

"If Gomez wins Gold, I'll be surprised if he then goes on to race Kona."

If he wins Gold, wouldn't you expect his sponsors would really want him at Kona ... tremendous exposure for him the week leading up to the race, no?
I do agree it's unlikely he'd make any "noise" if he's focusing on the Olympics (can't have both have to pick one to be at the pointy end). Still the exposure of having a medal might make it financially worth it.

Phillip Koutny from Switzerland - 4:15:15 at Kona 2 weeks ago and finished 8th, outrode Gomez by 12 minutes.

So FOP bike...we are not really close to that yet...

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I really like Gomez but he won't make the top 10 at the Olympics if he even makes the team.

Hmm. What’s better for sponsors, being in Kona for two weeks and racing, or winning in Southeast Asia somewhere?

I'd be willing to bet $50 bucks Gomez is top 10 in the Olympics.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

I think he could be top 10 but I don't put him on the podium. I'm guessing KONA will be his backup plan if he doesn't hit the numbers he wants training into Olympics.

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I'm going to put a link to this thread in my Google calendar so i can give you gloating rights if he does.
And i really hope he can cuz as i said, i like him.

8:18 in the sauna at IM Malaysia is pretty insane.

I would love to see him win in Tokyo. That race should be a sauna too in August. If anyone "deserves" to in in Tokyo it would be him after that stellar career and crashing out before Rio. But I am not sure if he has the foot speed for the Tokyo win anymore?

Just for all the predictions threads, this is the operative part of the sentence. Nobody goes to the Big Island expecting to win on their first try. 2021 will make it his 3rd appearance.

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Don't you think he will suffer the Lange syndrome (lagging on the bike part) ?

OK, Lange won twice... with some luck... so Gomez could win also if all the strong bikers fuck their swim and run...

I am spanish but I am gonna try to be objective
Gomez´focus in 2020 is Tokyo. He wants that gold,like most of us think he deserves.

+ He will race in heat
+ It is olympic distance
+ There is not A.Brownlee
+ He is Gomez....so anything can happen

- He will be 37 and has lost run speed
- There are a lot of candidates: Luis, Mola, Blummenfleft, Iden, Birtwhislte, J.Brownlee, Wilde, Alarza, Yee, .... so, round pack guys and uberunners too....

I think he will be satisfied with a medal, but he wants gold.

Kona....10 weeks between races as someone said....well, if he wants to be in the mix in Tokyo, he must train just for short distance....no sorts of training for 70.3 or IM
After Tokyo. Well, maybe he has two magical months to gain some endurance...but it is the opposite way to build an IM training....but he is Gomez....

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

I'll take this bet on, Gomez makes the Top 10 with ease, and I'll put big money on this bet.

As far as Olympics go, I think that's a pretty fair prediction. I have every belief that he can train himself to be in pretty good form. As you say, he has likely lost some run speed, so I think him winning gold is pretty unlikely. My instinct is he will be able to swim and bike with the pack of favourites, but that a few people will likely run away from him on the run. I would put a bet on him getting top 5, but would likely bet against podium. It's kind of fence sitting, but it's how I feel.

Incidentally, I don't feel anyone deserves a gold medal, nor do I feel people don't deserve them. You win them on the day against the competition provided. If you win one, you deserve it (unless you cheated). Just an aside.

I'm pretty excited for Gomez to focus fully on Ironman for 2021. I don't think I'm breaking any new ground by saying that Ironman skews slightly older, so it's probably unlikely that he will win 3 or 4, it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he can nab 1 or a couple at his age. 2021 could be a pretty fun year.

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Dan Mayberry
Amateur a lot of things, professional a few things.

Yep,it was baking hot out there and you seem to be the only one who appreciates the scale of performance given this course.Shit roads,hills and the heat are all good reasons that an 8:18 is an amazing time.

Rhodesy has gone faster in previous events but that was a different course and for some reason Ironman likes to ignore the first 11 years of the race and keeps saying yesterdays event is the "6th time Ironman Malaysia has been run since 2014" (different course and race management and not mentioning the legal battles between WTC and Ironman Malaysia management at the time).

I wasn't aware i bet anything.
I made a statement i hope doesn't pan out.

Anywho, i marked it on my Google calendar

"Yep,it was baking hot out there and you seem to be the only one who appreciates the scale of performance given this course.Shit roads,hills and the heat are all good reasons that an 8:18 is an amazing time.

Rhodesy has gone faster in previous events but that was a different course and for some reason Ironman likes to ignore the first 11 years of the race and keeps saying yesterdays event is the "6th time Ironman Malaysia has been run since 2014" (different course and race management and not mentioning the legal battles between WTC and Ironman Malaysia management at the time). "


x2. It is without question one of the hardest places to race an ironman.(in my experience it is the hardest for certain)...at least quickly. This performance was big. And he did it mainly on his own it seems. Malaysia conditions make Kona look very civil. For most I'd say 10-20mins on the run alone with the humidity and heat vs Kona....for pros at least 7-10mins

Winning Olympic Gold obviously means a hell of a lot to Gomez, it's something that has been eating away at him, so much so that he's gone against all logic and came back all the way from IM distance to have another crack.

If he was to win that, his career high achievement right there what he's been missing, the come down after that together with media engagements etc.

Alistair and Gwen have both fizzled out towards the end of the year after winning Gold, in the Grand Finals (can't remember what Spirig did off the top of my head) Ali said he just wanted the season over after Rio.

I'm guessing, putting your Gold medal in the cupboard, forgetting about it and getting straight into training and focusing on Kona as soon as he gets back from Tokyo won't happen (no matter what his sponsors want him to do)

(All hypothetical as he probably won't win Gold)

Edit..
I'd actually love him to win Gold then go out and win Kona a couple of months later, it would certainly put to bed all this Frodo is the GOAT talk...set up an epic 2021 Brownlee Vs Gomez Kona showdown for the GOAT title also.

I said this last year. Gomez Window is the exact same window as Frodo. As long as Jan is racing this thang...Gomez has no chance. Thing with Lange, he's younger and he'll learn. I said if he wanted to go all in, 2019 was the year and to move on from short course. But he didn't. He'll probably end up being an Andy Potts type as an old man.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

We do. Thanks!

* Only because he is cool and we like him and forgive him for running gatorskins.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Excited that Gomez will be in the field next year. This is one of the reasons I liked that IM changed the pro qualifying system after the 2018 race.

An interesting side note from the race is that an age group female had a faster finish time than the winning pro female. (Yes I know they did not race head to head)

Quoted from the Asia Tri FB page.(The winning pro time was 9:43:20).Ironman NZ champ Jocelyn McCauley dropped out due to dehydration at just under 30k into the run while holding a 20min'ish lead.

"Is this the most impressive performance of the 2019 Ironman Malaysia?
Japan's Maki Nishioka finished with a time of 9:37:46, topping the 25-29 AG.. And surprisingly was first overall female. Her splits >>53:34 swim, 5:17:03 bike and a 3:23:09 run!"

Being such a low key race with very low level pros, it is too bad for Javi, as he had a really great race it appears there. Under those conditions, it looks like he really drilled a pretty nice race, and all on his own it looks like too. Looks like someone rode past him, much too fast to grab on, he swam all alone off the front(what the hell is Potts doing in the pool these days?), and then ran much faster than he needed to in sweltering conditions. 8;18 is no joke, and well over an hour faster than the fastest woman too. (great woman gap is 40 minutes, average is 50+)

And I think 10 weeks after Tokyo is plenty to get ready for Kona, especially coming off what most likely will be his hardest training speed bloc he has ever done. Some of you guys must think that ITU doesn't include swimming, cycling, and running the way you talk about the two "distances" in our sport. The swim will be easy, actually can back off once the games are over, then just 4 or 5 key long rides and runs, which 10 weeks is plenty of time to get in. And lets not forget, he probably has the biggest training backlog of any guy in the race to pull from, he mostly just needs to be healthy and uninjured, unlike his last Kona attempt..

^ this

Gomez was injured for his 1st Kona race/training? First I’d heard of that reasoning.

If you wanna do both then be willing to compromise Kona for a podium. But again I’m talking about for a podium, he has the goods for top 10 (he was 10th or 11th first time). But podium? Nah he’d have super low odds for that imo. He still won’t have the bike strength imo to also run well in a championship level race in Kona. But he’ll have a solid professional race appearance no doubt. Just don’t talk about podium for him in ‘20.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Gomez was injured for his 1st Kona race/training? First I’d heard of that reasoning. //

Ya, imagine that, some people just dont like to make excuses, just show up and do their best. Kind of like Ryf this year, but of course sometimes it can be taken too far. Javi has always been a humble and non apolegitic type of athlete. I think it was Jan who mentioned it in one of his Kona interviews about him being injured before the race last year.


And my plan for him(and hopefully his) would be to just train for those Olympic Games, right up to the race week and full taper. Then after, pivot to ironman training, he has plenty of time, not like he is going to be starting from sitting on a sofa. He just has such a big backlog of miles talent, and expirence, it just doesnt take a guy like him that long to move up and get a little more endurance over speed. And not like all that speed won't help him either, it makes the distance pace all that much less intimidating.

What was the injury?

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

You would have to ask him, he only alluded to the fact that he was injured, a vague off the cuff statement.

Injured or not his biggest weakness is going to be the last hour of the bike + the fatigue to run a strong marathon in Kona against a stacked field. IE coming off the bike beside the Kona winner or behind and then dealing with that pressure.

But as I said he’s going to put in a solid professional performance, and I actually think he’s got a limited Kona shelf life with him staying in ITU for long (smart decision he’s still making bank in itu). I think he has around 3 peak Kona’s left (including ‘20) and then the totality of his pro career will have him hitting meeting Father Time, who’s pretty much undefeated. He will be 37 next year I’d put him in the 6th-9th spots next year. Hopefully it’ll be enough experience to keep him invested and really go all in, which I assume will happen post Tokyo.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Tend to agree with everything you've just said. He'd be a fool to move away from the riches of ITU if he's still competitive.

Post 2020 I think you're right he only has a couple of goes to be successful. I actually think he can win it but he needs to be stronger on the bike (And probably for Frodeno to bugger off).

He's not gonna drastically increase his FTP, so it'll be more about operating at a higher % of his FTP during an Ironman. The guy has an FTP north of 350w, yet could only manage 267w in 2018. If he can get that to 280w feeling more comfortable, then that's where the required sub 2:45 marathons will come from.

I dunno. I mean, Gomez is an amazing athlete but sometimes I feel like we are built similar. Kind of stocky, not super flexible, he doesn't appear to have overly long legs, but neither do I, my stockiness hides it. My point being, and I am sure he can work on become more aero, but stocky, not super flexible is never a super good recipe for TT aerodynamics. Obviously he can do it, and I'm sure he could hang in the front pack but at what cost, and whatever year it was, 6 5 Frodeno, riding 270 watts to win Kona, I mean forgetaboutit. Hard to say what would happen but I am always a big believer in race dynamics at this race and you really need all the help you can get. The more time you have a TV crew breaking some air the better, and the faster you swim the better chance that happens. Regardless I would love to see a focused Frodeno, Gomez, and Brownlee battle it out.

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that 2:39 marathon was so lucky

No, this was huge.
I agree Lange is a great triathlete.

When I say "lucky", I was referring to race circumstances.
You can do a great performance... and win... or not win... depending on :
- others dominant racers presence : Frodeno was not really there in 2017 (DNF) and 2018 (DNS),
- other racers tactics : Sanders taper tactics, race tactics and nutrition strategy are.... ahem... not always optimal
- wind : the "no wind" 2018 making drafting more efficient was favorable to Lange

you always need luck to win. Ask Allistair about flats :-)

Gomez post race interview..
https://www.facebook.com/...os/1175007722682505/

you can take it to the bank that he'll swim well. reasonable to expect he'd hold ali's toes.

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

And Lange will win Kona again.

def agree frodo being out injured helped. See Lange as more likely to win again in the next two years than any of the other contenders

Brandes
Jackets

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I really like Gomez but he finished 25th 2:42 down.

think hes past his prime for that distance?

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Yes, he has been for some time. Too bad he had that problem before Rio :(

I think he would have medal'd there.

Just revived this thread because i had a reminder in my Google calendar to respond.

I read that he had an ear infection coming to the race, but yeah, his short course days are over. I was amazed about his really, really bad swim, and even more by how he managed the approach to T2. I would have expected someone with his experience moving up to the front of the pack approaching T2.