1- Marisol Casado World triathlon president

2- Andrew Messick (and whoever replaces him)
3 -Thomas Bach IOC president and those who will decide on the future of the sport in particular the format of the next races.
4- Leonid Bogulslavky who finances Super League Triathlon. I do not love the gimmicky part (short chute/ team/sport leader) but it makes for a short viewer friendly show whereas IM which i am really interested in is longish and boring at times.
5Michael Mortiz PTO




The order does not really matter. Whatever is decided at the top carries so much weight. On the other end, the future of the sport also depends on each single individual taking part in the sport.


If i had to pick athletes


1 - Frodeno (our Federer)
2- Blum - (Nadal gritty version)
3- Ditlev
4- Wilde
5- Yee

the last time i answered this, i said:

-arild tveiten (architect of the norwegian program, which, when i answered this a few years ago, was on the cusp. turns out the norwegians have had some success.
-lucy (during COVID she was having more fun than anyone in the sport, racing everything from super-sprint to long course, swimming at the olympic trials, etc etc.)
-lionel (partly because, a few years ago, he impacted every race he did. he shaped other peoples' strategies. but also, mostly, because of his media presence and his impact on indoor training - he's made pain caves cool.)
-and. . . i can't remember who else.

this time around:
-arild/olav: sure. every magazine/website is still running "how to train like the norwegians" articles, and blu and gus have had some incredible results. still though, where's casper or vetle? where are the female athletes? it would be good to see how durable/broad their success is.

-lucy: well, she won kona! on the other hand maybe she's settled into the trajectory that some 'expected' of her pre-covid and before she started experimenting in short-course etc. big media presence, huge professionalism, and really, really fast racing. important in racing in the sense that at her best she dictates terms from the start, and forces other athletes to respond.

-lionel's off my list. love the guy and want him to win, but it's a while since it felt to me like he was really relevant in a race. he's had some success in slightly lower-level events, but never really setting the pace. media presence remains high, but unchanged - no innovations there in approach, and at least for me, i've become kind of uninterested as some of it's repetitive.

-maybe taylor knibb? i admit i'm not personally a huge fan, but she could be on the edge of doing something special here. an american who's an olympic AND ironman champ would be big for the sport in a big market. she's also pioneering this deal with trek's cycling arm, which could also be fascinating to see play out. so partly from a sport side, but also from an industry side, i'd guess she's important to watch.

-messick. love him or hate him, IM still dominates the scene. pro athletes need IM results for their contracts. the average joe hasn't heard of most races, but he's heard of the Ironman. even the PTO, when they try to stake out their position, are doing so in opposition to IM - they're reacting to IM's moves. i do think that IM is nearing a major crossroads, and than in 5 or 10 years they'll look quite different, but for now they're still the 800-pound gorilla in our sport, for better or worse.

-what's interesting is that i'm sort of trying and failing to think of industry innovators that feel really important right now. maybe deboer wetsuits? they seem to be pouring money into sponsorship and R&D in a space that's been sleepy for a long time. maybe canyon for shaking up bike retail. but overall it feels like most of the products we're using now are converging on stable, similar designs.

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http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Definitely Lionel & TTL should be in the list. They promote triathlon to a lot of people, keep things interesting and advocate lifestyle no matter what.

Age Group Athletes
Race Directors
Volunteers
Cities/Communities that allow races
Bike Fitters/Coaches



Everyone else is just playing in these people's sandboxs.

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E-DUB
Chief Janitor @Slowtwitch
Life is short. Dont be mad all the time.

Replying in general to the thread:

1.) Andrew Messick (and next CEO) -- because, for better or worse, IM controls so much of the overall portfolio of our sport, and will continue to do so globally. They set the tone.

2.) Marisol Casado -- because of the other end of the pro sport spectrum, as well as how all of our various federations ladder up through her.

3.) Chelsea Sodaro -- the rare IM world champion who has decided to use her win as a platform for key advocacy for opportunity. Kinda refreshing, to be quite honest. And her fandom on and offline loves her for it, and follows fervently.

4.) Talbot Cox -- created the model of YouTube content that every pro athlete follows, and continues to create content for the largest of them. And what would this place be without the Lionel thread...and we have Talbot to thank for a lot of it.

5.) Dan Eisenhardt - founder of FORM. Really has created the smart eyewear category for endurance sport, and FORM is pushing more boundaries than anybody. Without FORM I don't know if we get to ENGO, for instance.

Off the top of my head. I reserve the right to change that.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I was about to say "the person who is getting Messick's job" because without that ironman framework (rightly or wrongly the age group sport has largely morphed around that org), everything you listed below has nothing to feed into with dying local race scenes all over and a sport for 45-55 year olds

Agree with many names posted on this list so far.

I'd also add Laidlow. How that doping investigation unfolds will have major implications on the sport.

Also with the olympics coming athletes like Potter/Jorgenson/Luis/Wilde/etc. will be in the limelight for the next year or two

ATHLETES WHO PAY ENTRY FEES.

Didn't need 5 people only 5 words. Without the athletes who pay the entry fees and keep coming back to racing and training none of the people at the heads of organizations, professionals, short or long course, active or retired matter.

Tim

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http://www.snappingtortuga.com
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Put that in a haiku and then you will get bonus points

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Valerie Silk
Hans Albrecht
Tom Warren
Julie Moss
Carl Thomas

Oh shit, I woke up this morning and thought that it was 1982....

Forgot to add, 3 points for anyone that can describe these folks accomplishments, without googling that is...

On that list, Julie is the one that counts. Without her ABC drops IM after one broadcast and the sport has a very different trajectory.

Credit to Valerie for her stewardship of the race. Not sure why Tom Warren made your list vs. say Dave Scott. Would love to get your insight.

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On that list, Julie is the one that counts. Without her ABC drops IM after one broadcast and the sport has a very different trajectory.

Credit to Valerie for her stewardship of the race. Not sure why Tom Warren made your list vs. say Dave Scott. Would love to get your insight.///

To your questions, of course we all know about the Julie Moss crawl and what it did for the sport. But it only supersized the growth, and the networks shows prior were ranked #1 in their sports categories. So it was going to continue whether or not that dramatic Julie/Kathleen moment happened or not, because it's all about ratings, and they had those in 1981.


Tom Warren was the winner of the 2nd ever held race on Oahu, and Sports Illustrated did a huge feature on him in the magazine. It was before any TV coverage, and this is the first real push out to the world that this race even existed. Dave Scott had only won one of the races up to 82, and his notoriety would not come until later during the 80's. That article is how I heard about the race, along with a lot of other early Kona 81 participants.


SO who has thoughts on the others I listed?? Come on old timers, you can do it!!!

I would have gone with McDermott then vs. Warren.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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I would have gone with McDermott then vs. Warren.///


?????

I'd add Felix Walchshöfer - more than most anyone else in the sport, if he calls, they answer . . . that is huge. He started/took over from his Dad Challenge. In Roth he has set the standard and continues to innovate and evolve. Prize money, appearance fees, rules, experience, etc . . . he sets a standard.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

good call. roth has weathered a lot of changes in the sport, but has been the place to go fast and have an incredible experience since the 90s, at least.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Barry McDermott was the Sports Illustrated reporter who "discovered" the Ironman. He was on Oahu to cover a golf tourney and heard about this unreal endurance challenge some nut cases were doing. It was his writeup in SI that gave the race national exposure and brought it to ABC's attention.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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Ok, so I got your thinking on Barry, but that would be like including ABC wide world of sports too, which had a much bigger impact than that SI article did. It was first, but the 80/81 ABC races were a 100 times more influential in pushing our sport out to the masses, so if Barry makes it, then you have to add ABC and whoever brought that show up above him.

Which a good case could be made for too, I just dont think they make top 5 from the pre 82 triathlon world..

And in 6th in that genre, I would have included Harold Johnson or Mike Plant..But they both began their triathlon rags in 82, so were not yet the influence they would later become...

I have a few very nice memories of Valerie Silk. As the early race director/owner of Ironman she was, as you rightly point out Mark, one of the most important people in the sport. While she had sold the race by the time of my first Kona finish in 1991, she continued for a number of years to be a positive presence during race week. She had an attorney whose daughter I was teaching in 1991 and before the race he introduced me to her. She was tremendously personable, asking about my training and my career…and the weather…in far off Illinois. She was great. Then, by complete chance, the two of them were near the finish that evening when I was semi staggering back to my room at the King Kam. She took one look and said “you need an IV” and walked me to the medical tent. It certainly helped! For years afterward I’d get that birthday card she’d send to race finishers and I always smiled remembering her kindness. Total class act. Those were great days for the race and the sport.

Are female athletes considerably less important?