Toady it feels even greater than normal to be a Kiwi. That was a beautiful domination of a race. The way Triathlon should be won!!
Sorry for gloating but we don’t get too many chances here in NZ.
Hamish and Bevan, Gold and Silver.
Yee Haa!!
Cheers, Scott
Oh yeah, the Swiss guy was awesome also!
mate, we need to party when we get the chance. Truly fantastic stuff.
I’m partying, on my own, in Kuala Lumpur. Bad timing for a business trip, got back from the office and they were showing the Boxing. Missed the whole thing. Fantastic result. Who cares that the Aussies and the yanks clean up all the medals. We’ve got the ones that really matter.
Congrats to all Kiwis and all the Swiss amongst us ! It was a great race and really fun watching it.
Hamish has been around the top of this sport forever. I could not think of a more deserving winner. The man has paid his dues many times over. Congrats to all the Kiwis. You guys were awesome !
Congrats to all NZ’ers, what a great race! And I was very happy for Hamish Carter, he’s got an impressive record but often he was the bridesmaid and never the bride! Not today! He fully deserves the Olympic title 
A Great day for New Zealand and a great day for triathlon. What a fantastic race.
I was up at 3:00am this morning to watch it all on TSN in Canada.
I hope this puts to rest the notion that ITU racing is all about sitting in and waiting for the run - it’s clearly not, after watching this great race unfold.
Obviously, I am a bit sad that Simon Whitfield, was not in the top three, but he still had a great race to finish 11th.
Fleck
Congrats! Cant wait to watch the race tonight and see how they won.
I taped it last night and was up early for my swim workout. Got into the car after swimming just as the guy on the radio announced it was a “disappointing day for Canada’s Simon Whitfield who placed 11th” … crap … fortunately he didn’t say who won the thing so I rushed home and just finished watching it. What a fantastic race and I was glad to see Carter take the win after that lead group worked so hard to get away. The Swiss guy was amazing … his head was flopping everywhere on that last lap and it looked like he was trying to drown himself with all the water he was dumping on his head and down his throat but he just kept hanging in there for a much deserved medal. The commentary was extra solid today too since we didn’t have a baseball team playing for the bronze for the coverage to cut away to
It is interesting with the ITU format races to note what Barrie Shepley was mentioning on the coverage about team tactics and how the Australians consider it every man for themselves due to the cutthroat nature of trying to make the team vs. some teams like the Kiwis (who obviously worked together well) and the French who did a good job of getting their man into the lead group. Poor Bennett could have used some help from Robertson when he made an attempt to move up from the chase and no one would go with him. It certainly puts guys that are the lone representative of their country at a disadvantage.
Not having team-mates is a disadvantage, but for the lone racer, I think that you have to be just that much more tactically aware of what is going on at all times.
The key break came early in the bike, and at that point, a number of key contenders, Whitfield, Bennet, Kemper, Rana and others had to figure out quickly what they were going to do - bridge up, form a small group and work together or try and save something for the run while not looseing too much ground to the leaders.
However, sometimes the physical strain makes the choice for you - you are simply going all out on the day and that’s what dictates what you will do.
Bennet decided on the mad break, and Rana, Kemper, Whitfield decided to wait it out. In the end, niether choice led to a medal, but Bennett’s was perhaps the better choice to really take a run at a podium spot.
I taped it last night and was up early for my swim workout. Got into the car after swimming just as the guy on the radio announced it was a “disappointing day for Canada’s Simon Whitfield who placed 11th” … crap … fortunately he didn’t say who won the thing so I rushed home and just finished watching it. What a fantastic race and I was glad to see Carter take the win after that lead group worked so hard to get away. The Swiss guy was amazing … his head was flopping everywhere on that last lap and it looked like he was trying to drown himself with all the water he was dumping on his head and down his throat but he just kept hanging in there for a much deserved medal. The commentary was extra solid today too since we didn’t have a baseball team playing for the bronze for the coverage to cut away to
It is interesting with the ITU format races to note what Barrie Shepley was mentioning on the coverage about team tactics and how the Australians consider it every man for themselves due to the cutthroat nature of trying to make the team vs. some teams like the Kiwis (who obviously worked together well) and the French who did a good job of getting their man into the lead group. Poor Bennett could have used some help from Robertson when he made an attempt to move up from the chase and no one would go with him. It certainly puts guys that are the lone representative of their country at a disadvantage.
Amen,
I have long been wondering how long it would take for someone to say, “Hey, we can draft in this triathlon, so why don’t we work together as a team.” So Kynesis forms a team and one of their people, Plata, makes the team for USA. Of course their is an outcry because “that’s not how its done” even if it is perfectly legal. If a triathlon governing body was smart, they would take their fastest athlete and design the rest of the team around them.
For example, had Hunter Kemper (clearly the faster runner) had the services of his two teamates to chase down breaks then I’m sure the result would have been different. Instead they all ran their own races and finished pretty far back. Cyclists understand the team idea even though there is only one winner, but ITU triathletes have not all arrived there yet.
Chad
Fleck, clearly the guys who did not go with the break (that included Carter, Docherty and Marceau) were either too weak to go (and used the excuse that they did not want to), or made a poor tactical error. Either way, they failed. Why would you let a break with Bevan Docherty go ? To me, it seems like they did not have the legs and it was not a “choice”. If it was a choice, it was a poor one.
The best part of the race was the the bike breakaway stuck and the winners came from there. That is totally awesome. I hate when the winners come from the chase pack, even if it includes Canadians. That is why I was cheering for Marceau at Sydney, more so than Whitfield.
People have been saying this since the ITU allowed drafting, but the team tactics that take place, if any tend to be somewhat passive. Kinesys, activly pursued the team concept and dynamic and made no bones or apologies about it. However, at the World Championships or Olympic Games there is too much on the line for the full on team approach. it passivly happens, via fate and a bit of work. Clearly, Carter and Docherty were working together on the bike in the small break to help each other get away this morning. However, at some point it likley became - each man for himself.
Their seemed to be no team-work on the part of the powerful Aussie team this morning.
Yeah, that a team approach should be used is flipping obvious to any cyclist, but we’re talking triathlon here and, like a cyclist friend of mine who’s involved in high-level draft-legal triathlon says, trying to get triathletes to co-operate is like “trying to herd cats”
duncan
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Indeed, it may have been a choice or it simply may have been by force - they were maxed out already and could not, no matter how hard they tried hang on.
That’s whay the early phases of these races are absolutly critical. You must be there at the end of the swim AND then if there is a move you MUST be able to cover it. Tactiically, a triathlete needs to know what’s going on both with his competitors and with himself.
The key selection( perhaps that’s the better choice of words) this morning was made by the time they reached the foot of the first big hill. The next critical move was made, when Bennet decided to go solo 2/3 of the way through the bike to take some time out of the leaders. He almost made it.
Hamish and Docherty are awesome when it comes to a strong man’s draft legal, but they should say a big thanks for pulling for most of the race to the two French domestiques and Olivier Marceau who did the lion’s share of the work.
Whitfield and Rana did not “decide” to go with the break they couldn’t handle the hill when they initial break happened. In Whitfield’s case I believe he has had poor swimming form this year and thus used up a lot of energy in swim and did not have the strength when it counted, in Rana’s case he’s a crap cyclist, he got dropped from the second pack, the hills killed him. Simon tried for almost 3 laps to bridge, but couldn’t catch the hard driving front group–solo for a good chunk–with some very strong domestique cyclist triathletes.
Hamish Carter swim time: 18:19
Simon Whitfield swim time: 18:21
You’re right, Simon lost it on the swim, LOL. And Raña a bad cyclist… LOL, you’re absolutely clueless…
Perhaps Hamish was putting out less of an effort on the swim and was “rested for the bike”. Or perhaps Hamish was stonger than Whitfield on the bike (likely, given the outcome of the race and since the man has been a medalist at the non drafting ITU worlds in 92 in Manchester)