Are Canadians thinner than Americans? According to the CBC a few weeks ago “Over the past 20 years, rates of overweight and obesity have more than doubled for Canadian adults, and nearly tripled among Canadian children.” Obesity rates in Canada are not much lower than those in the US. The reality is that both Americans and Canadians are incredibly fat. When I return to the US from travel in Asia or Europe I am always struck by how big people are.
I say this with the utmost respect, but those great’s of the sport of triathlon had a high impact and profile WITHIN the sport of triathlon. They where truley pioneers and broke through to new levels in a vareity of ways.
It’s all about media coverage - particularly main stream media coverage.
I agree completely. Allen, Scott, Molina, etc still have a very high place in the Ironman community. They have had a great impact … but I compare them to the impact made by other “greats of their sport” … Jordan, Montana, “Wayne”, Bonds, even Tony Hawk … and it’s minimal … or perhaps I should say the coverage of their impact was minimal … but it’s basically saying the same thing in regards to youth.
The comment about triathlon not being a spectator sport is a pretty good one. Plus, there’s much less violence and tuanting in triahtlons. 
I would love to see triathlon take off in America’s youth/teens/college. I can think of very little that would be as good for them physically and in terms of mental strength & discipline.
We certainly have enough history, role models, dominant athletes, etc to make the sport go.
Regarding why Canadians have a fair amount of success, Barrie Shepley made an interesting point a few months ago when I head him speak.
While many might view 3-4 months of winter and snow as a negative, there’s some evidence it works in favour of our triathletes. They’re forced to alter their training in the winter, in terms of where, how and what they’re doing, which aids in not overtraining and injuries. If you have to stop running for a while, and XC ski, or cyclocross instead of mountain bike, you’re less likely to overtain or strain the same muscles and joints.
It’s an interesting point.
"why is canada so much better at triathlon than america? "
Don’t think it is unless you go by an athlete to population ratio. Canada has done extremely well considering population and climate. For the best triathletes % wise my vote would go to the Aussies. Of course their climate is much more triathlete training friendly.
“Obesity rates in Canada are not much lower than those in the US.”
I live in eastern rural Ontario. Go north of the I.Q. line (Highway 7) and being over weight almost becomes the norm.
Fleck…southern Ontario ??? Give me a break bud. It does not come close to most of Canada with respect to venues to train. The racing though is great. Anyway, I did a 40K XC ski this morning before work here in Ottawa and was in the cube at 9:30 am. Can you do that where you live :-). The network of roads, trails and lakes is fabulous here for anyone interested in racing tris, mountain biking, XC skiing, or adventure racing. Guess where Peter Reid was living before he placed 3rd at Nice in 1995 behind Lessing and Van Lierde ? Yup, right here in Ottawa. That being said, Victoria is the place to be !
Everybody knows the secret Canadian weapon…Canadian beer.
“right here in Ottawa.”
The nation’s capital is set up properly with lots of green space, bike and running trails. Is an example of what a liveable city should be. Also nice to have the Gatineau hills across the river. I could move there in a minute.
Dev,
My sincere apologies. My definition of “Southern Ontario” is anything south of Sudbury or Sault St Marie, and that would include the wonderful Ottawa region which is a training gem, to be sure.
Fleck
P.S. No I could not do what you did today. It’s an hour to Hardwood from my house.
Fleck, wake up at 4 am, drive to hardwood, on skis by 6 am, 50K, done at 8:15, drive to your office for 9:15 :-). Of course, you can make that happen here by waking up at a more “sane” 5:30 am :-). We do have wonderful facilities though and lot of fabulous races. For all our friends in the US North East, come and check out some of our races in Ontario. You’ll be pleased with the price and quality of the field and the quality of the events.
"…Canadian beer. "
Can’t remember the last time I drank a Blue, 50, Ex or Canadian. You can get so many good microbrews and foreign beers now in Ontario I doubt if I’ll ever buy Labatt’s or Molson again. I’d say Moosehead and Alexander Keith’s are now my favorite Canuk beers.
Rickards Red…and most of the Sleeman line…mmm
oh wait…I don’t drink beer…my bad…back to the couch
.
And besides…Molson isn’t just about beer anymore (as the recent police visit to the old Barrie factory will prove). Seems everyone is trying to diversify these days.
who cares? Canada is our friendly neighbor to the North. There are very strong for a country without the ideal tri climate. Kudos to them. The US also has some great triathletes, Deboom, the entire womans itu squad and other scattered athletes. I root for both. Just beat the europeans.
are you stoned? you might have XC skied this morning, but i put 3.5 hrs on the bike, and the last time i checked, cycling was a part of triathlon, and XC was not (biathlon maybe, but not tri). Yes, canada did sweep the most recent iron championships, but as other people have stated, what about all the other championships? What about just last year? Deboom? Tons of the top pros are american, and almost all of the top AGers hail from the southern 48 states. Of course Canada has great places to train, but so do SoCal and CO. Tri is also really big in FL, if you wanted to, you can do 2 full IM, 3+ 1/2 IM, along with sprint or olympics every week, without having to drive more than 3 hrs in any one direction. Is Canada good? sure, but i wouldnt go as far to say the US doesnt compare.
Pretty sure Paul was referring to BC as the place to be ‘in Canada’. Sure all those places and athletes have merit but we Canadians are so used to hearing about how wonderful these races are…yet hardly hear about Americans racing in Canada. Comparing US athletes/races is like apples and oranges. Why not let some of your pride slide and come up here and see how the oranges (or apples if you prefer) get it done. We need to feel some national pride now and then too…prove us wrong.
Nope, I am not stoned (although being high on oxygen at sunrise at 6:40 am, with the sun bouncing off the snow, skis flying at 20 kph and my heart pumping is a nice alternative). The engine does not know the difference between XC skiing, running, swimming or biking. When the snow melts, all those fabulous xc ski trails will become roads for road biking or trails for mountain biking or trail running. Last time I checked, weight training was not part of a triathlon, nor is mountainbiking. Many still do them. Anyway, the point is that you do whatever you have to do to get the training in.
Never said that Canada was better at anything than the US. All I said is that we have some good athletes and some wonderful places to train, that you’d never know of if you only read the mainstream tri publications. Having raced across the US and Canada for 19 years in tri, there are few races that exceed the quality and price of races in Ontario.
If Canada would just accept the fact they are just the 51st state then youe would see that American triathletes are the best.
maybe the heart and lungs dont know the difference, but the muscles sure do, and nothing trains the cycling specific muscles quite like cycling (mountainbiking uses the exact same muscles, and weight lifting does a great job of preventing injury). I spend the fall as a bike racer, and believe the more days cycling outdoors, the better you get. Im definately a better cyclist come race day if i preped by cycling than if i preped by rowing. Now as for my saying the US is similar to Canada, and that Canada doesnt blow the US out of the water, i was responding more to the forum in general, but didnt feel like putting up multiple posts. All i was saying is that, many people say canada is awesome for tri, and better than the US (again, topic of the thread, not you) because it has all these great trails and everything, but by your own admission, you are forced to, “do whatever you have to do to get the training in.” because its so cold there! By the time the snow has melted, ive already been training outdoors for months, not a great thing if your facing someone like me (in that they get to train early, not talking about ability :- P ) in an early season tri. Maybe its just because i was raised in FL that i have such an aversion to cold.
I think many of us already have accepted the 51st state thing. We just need to put up some token opposition to make ourselves feel quasi independent :-).