https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-gear/bike-gear/pro-bike-felt-ia-frd-magnus-ditlev He's 1m95 apparently ;)

Why would the no wetsuit swim hurt him?

He's almost got a little bit of the Kienle thing going if you actually look at his last 3 races. Miami and Texas were non wetsuit and actually good swims - 90 seconds to Kanute in Galveston but 1:50 in StG with a wetsuit.

I get why we assume that - but he's had good non wetsuit swims in Kona (relatively) too - maybe his lack of shoulder mobility hurts him in a wetsuit more than the bouyancy helps. Just a theory but I don't know that a non wetsuit swim hurts him as much as conventional wisdom would lead you to believe, at least according to the clock...

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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!

Jan Frodeno quotes a Tibor Benedeck (sp? Hungarian waterpolo player - one of the best ever) as his inspiration on the Greg Bennett podcast as what best describes himself. The quote is long but basically Tibor describes all his attributes as fairly average - he simply wanted it better (the quote's phrasing).

So I mean - at least to Jan Frodeno, wanting it more is important...even if cliche.

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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!

"Wanting it more" makes for a good poster, but it is silly.

People would say that about Michael Jordan. Yeah, sure. He was 6-6, could bench pressed 400 lbs, dunk from the free throw line, and had impeccable fine motor skills. MJ was one of the most naturally gifted athletes ever. THAT was why he won.

Exactly. It certainly helped that he wanted it. But it was his god-given talent that for him 99% of the way there. I could race Frodo and want it more. And we all know the outcome won’t change.

That's fair, I get what you are saying. MJ was a great physical talent. Is he the greatest physical talent of all time? He gives a TON of credit to Tim Grover, his strength coach - and that would be in the "want it more" category. Steph Curry is the GREATEST shooter of all time. I look at him...he wants it more. Works harder per possession than almost anyone. He wants it more.

There are physical talents who never amount to anything. Hell, how many tall triathletes are there who succeed? The delta on the best ones is much smaller than Frodo, he's an outlier. His hard work has got him to be nearly perfection, but that's hardly been the case until his incredible work ethic brings him to the point where he's more talented.

Now...I get the you wanting it more than Frodo but not beating him argument - although there's zero way that you ACTUALLY believe that you can. Wanting it more AND putting in the work AND having physical talents to get into the stratosphere is part of the equation - but there's certainly something to wanting it as bad as Lionel, or Sam, or Jan, that others don't have but are in the same place-ish physically.

If Jan didn't want it so bad and just wanted to win - he could have gone 7:56 in Kona 2019 and won easy - he wanted the record on a much harder day and went and got it. To say he's just physically better is to ignore the first 2/3 of his career and disrespect the work he's done to figure out how to race an IM. Just in thinking about this one - wanting it more and being ready to go to those places during a race is a talent.

Anyways - as usual with ST, some will agree, some won't, and nobody will have their minds changed here haha.

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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!

Yes, all fair. There are certainly multiple factors in play. I just can’t help but be over the cliche sports phrase “the victor wanted it more”.

The genetics helped, but that's not everything. The NBA is littered with busts.

The best way I can compare this is Ryan Leaf Vs. Peyton Manning.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

In regards to MJ, we forget he was super thin, got his ass kicked for 4 or 5 years before developing that naturally gifted body, worked on his game more than anyone on his team...He didn't win because he was the most naturally gifted. Reading that again - that's silly.

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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!

If anyone watched The Last Dance it even goes into when he started taking weight training seriously.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Right? Watching that - I just don't know how you get the impression that he was just better than everyone. Hell...he wanted it more than anyone out there and wouldn't be stopped. He wanted it enough for himself AND Dennis haha

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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!

There's a saying, can't remember how it goes, but basically of the 10 people at the start line 5 are just happy to be there, 3 expect to do well and 2 expect to win. I don't think Sam expected to win. He will now.
He's right it was like Ironwar 2.0, where Mark Allen gapped Dave Scott

Wow this guy doesn't mess around with equipment. Should get his own thread! He made his own cockpit, has the elastic Empire SLX setup, and even runs Veloflex Records at some races. You'd think he's an ST regular. lol

“On REALLY clean roads like the NASCAR tracks in Miami and Daytona I use Veloflex Record with a latex tube (they don’t come as tubeless). On not so smooth roads, I use Vittoria Corsa Speed and run them tubeless.”

That's what I thought as well haha, nice to see that some pros are gear/tech nerds too and actually work on having a good setup

I am far from being a competitive person, but I do believe it is essential - though not sufficient - for success. I think the exact percentages change depending on the sport, athlete, and era - not to mention opportunity (race, wealth, etc).

I would also suggest both 'wanting it' and genetics are a constant, meaning it's not just how you feel in race day, but how much you wanted it in training as well. Maybe Sam exceeded everyone in training and it wasn't enough on that day. Maybe the opposite.

This was one race with lots of variables. All athletes could have optimized both training and genetics and there would still be a single winner on this particular day. Doesn't mean anyone made a mistake. It was one race on one day. And it was amazing! Excited to see the next.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador