Adman wrote:
Regarding ITU vs Kona athletes: I think in the last 10 years ITU has evolved to the point that it is truly an elimination race. And because of this athletes tend to be more well rounded while still having the traditional strengths in the swim and run. Because everything revolves around the Olympic cycle most countries have a well funded pyramid system which identifies the most talented swim-bike-runners by the age of 18-20.
I would say the majority of Kona focused athletes are either athletes that couldn't cut the mustard at ITU, were late developers or were more suited to the non-drafting ruleset. And because of this the talent pool in ITU is much deeper.
This difference in talent pool has translated to the 70.3 distance particularly in the mens events in the last 5 year's. Of the 18 men's podium spots available since 2014, 9 were occupied by active ITU athletes and a further 6 spots by former ITU athletes. A further factor to consider is that few ITU athletes actually race 70.3. My hunch is that if they did the number of active ITU athletes in the top 10 would be higher.
Now will this current deep pool of ITU athletes come to dominate Kona in 5-10 years? I think it really depends on what age they go long. Many will stick with ITU because quite simply the money is better, with deeper prize pools and federation funding. By the time they come to Ironman they are slightly shop worn. I feel that this will be the case with AB and JG. Also I think that the nuances of the full distance does eliminate a lot of ITU athletes due to specific nutritional demands of the race. It's an 8 hour race which is like comparing the Marathon to a 100mile mountain race.
True but a version of this discussion is held every year as a new ITU superstar steps up. Neither Lessing or Smith made an impact in Kona whereas a less gifted speedster such as Peter Reid managed to nail it.