Olympic Review
This was the 3rd time triathlon has been in the Olympic Games. We undoubtably had our best ever chance of a medal yet we once again came home with nothing. So what happened? Who is to blame, the athletes the British Triathlon Federation? In the women’s race Holly Avil was out of it from the start with a stomach bug and Helen Tucker finished in the 20’s after winning the World Championships a few months earlier. There is nothing an athlete can do about a stomach bug and little anyone else can do. However quite a few of the British Olympic team went down with something similar so you have to question the BOA’s choice of training camp venue prior to the Olympics. In Sydney the holding camp was excellent but in prior to Athens it was pretty poor too. I am not sure how much research goes in to the hotel kitchen hygiene but obviously not enough in the case I would have thought. Helen Tucker came out of nowhere to win the World Championships this year. She was not even on the funding programme! So I think you have to say that in the heat of China it was not a bad result at all. The Worlds was in Vancouver and was cold. With the women I think it was a great shame Avil was ill and really no one is to blame for no meals. In the men’s race Tim Don seemed to have the same problem as Avil and the same conclusion can be drawn that it was just bad luck. It’s one of the perils of racing i a strange country and is highly unlikely to happen in London 2012. So what happened to the other guys? Ali Brownlee finished in 9th and Will Clarke was way down the field. Brownlee featured for much of the race and finished with an excellent result for someone so young. However I think the fact that he featured for much of the race showed he was doing too much of the work on the bike and the run. Certainly for much of the run he was at the front with 3 or 4 guys just sat behind him. You can’t take anything away from what was an exceptional performance but it has to be said that he could have perhaps had an even more exceptional performance with slightly different race tactics. Perhaps this is where the support staff are to blame? Who is advising him on race tactics? I am sure he will be around at the next Olympics and with more experience will have to be a favorite to win on home ground. I am really not sure what happened to Will Clarke. He was in great shape going into the Games and did not perform to his high expectations. I am sure he did his best on the day and he deserved to be there so no blame of not finishing in the medals can lie with him. Like with all the previous UK athletes at the Olympics he under performed. It is the BTF funding programme who is responsible for the athletes. It is them who oversee what they do, outline the preparation for the Olympics and do all the testing. At the end of the day because they are responsible for the athletes they must take responsibility for the poor results. The people in charge did not get result so, as with an business or sporting outfit, the people in charge must go. When it fails as it did they must start a fresh with new management and new plans. The athletes always do their best for their country and should never be blamed for any result. They all deserved to be there and they all gave it 100%. A final word- It has to be said that when the previous performance director (the person ultimately in charge of the athletes) departed several years ago the accountant for the director somehow fell into the job as director with no experience what so ever. What’s that about?! Maybe that’s where the problem lies?
