British triathletes Helen Jenkins,
Jonathan Brownlee and his brother Alistair, all favored to win
gold medals at their home Olympic Games, agree that the course
around London is missing one thing: a challenging climb.
“In an ideal world the bike course would have a big hill
in it and the run would have a hill in it as well,” Alistair
Brownlee said in an interview. “But it’s in London, and you
can’t really have a hill in London.”
The fourth Olympic triathlon will include a maximum ascent
of about 35 feet (10.7 meters) from Buckingham Palace to Hyde
Park Corner. Jenkins and the Brownlee brothers will begin their
race with a 1.5-kilometer (0.9-mile) swim across Hyde Park’s
Serpentine lake, followed by seven cycling laps totaling 40
kilometers and a 10-kilometer run to finish off.
The three Britons, who compete in the U.K.’s fastest-
growing sport, are favored by bookmakers to win the races on
Aug. 4 and Aug. 7 and give Britain its first medals in a sport
that made its Olympic debut in Sydney 12 years ago. Jenkins is
favorite with odds of 4-6 in the women’s competition, according
to U.K. bookmaker Blue Square Ltd., which rates the Brownlees as
the 6-4 joint-favorites for the men’s title.
Jenkins’s victory in the World Triathlon Series event in
San Diego on May 11 lifted her atop the 2012 season rankings.
She’s skipping this weekend’s race in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and
will complete her Olympic tuneup July 22 in Hamburg, Germany.
Qualifying for the Beijing Olympics four years ago was a
victory in itself after injuries dogged her throughout 2006 and
2007, Jenkins, 28, said in a June 8 interview at Blenheim
Palace, the birthplace of former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Her qualification for the London games 10 months ago
has helped smooth her buildup, the 5-foot-6 Welsh athlete said.
Fast Course
“I’ve had a lot more time just to focus on getting ready
for that one day,” Jenkins said. “It’s a very fast course and
you have to be going really fast on the day to actually win.”
Alistair Brownlee, 24, qualified in September, though an
injury to his Achilles tendon earlier this year stalled his
training schedule. During his absence, younger brother Jonathan,
22, secured back-to-back World Triathlon Series victories in San
Diego and Madrid and has risen to No. 3 in the rankings.
Competing in the June 9 triathlon at Blenheim Palace, 60
miles northwest of London, the brothers won in a dead heat after
both posted a time of 57 minutes, 16 seconds.
While the idea of crossing the Olympic finish line together
appeals, it doesn’t come without risk as international events
use a photograph to determine a winner, Alistair Brownlee said.
‘Ideal Situation’
“They would see who actually won, which would be a bit
rubbish if you thought you were going to finish and you slowed
down to cross the line with your brother and you got second,”
he said. “If we were in that situation, which would be the
ideal situation, we would be running as fast as we can.”
Javier Gomez of Spain, who was fourth in Beijing, will be
among the biggest threats in the 55-man field in London, the
brothers said. This weekend’s race in Kitzbuhel will be their
last before the Olympic event and they plan to spend the next
four weeks training in Switzerland.
“There is a lot of more pressure because it’s the Olympics
and there is a lot more media interest,” Jonathan Brownlee
said. “I try not to think about it or worry about it.”
Great Britain’s triathlon team is sponsored by General
Electric Co. (GE) (GE), which has contributed a scanner capable of
tracking small physical changes caused by training or nutrition.
One of the 11 sponsors who make up the so-called Olympics TOP
program, GE is also providing equipment ranging from lights to
diagnostic technology during the games.
GE also has an individual agreement with Jonathan Brownlee,
while GE Capital supports Jenkins.
British World-Beaters
“Triathlon is a young sport and it’s the fastest-growing
sport in the U.K.,” Simon Langford, GE’s London 2012 spokesman,
said in an interview. “There are a number of world-beating
athletes here and if we can get them running around with a GE
logo on their chest, then that’s great publicity.”
According to British Triathlon, participation numbers have
more than doubled in the past five years. The Loughborough,
England-based governing body has about 350 affiliated clubs and
more than 14,000 members.
Neither Jenkins nor the Brownlees plan to leave the sport
anytime soon.
Jenkins said she wants to represent Wales at the 2014
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The Brownlees envision
one day competing in the annual Ironman World Championship in
Hawaii, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and
26.2-mile run. Jonathan says he dreams of running across Europe,
although Alistair would only join him if it were a race.
For now, their focus is making the short ascent up the
medal dais at the London games.
“Triathlon is an unpredictable sport and the Olympics is
not very often won by the favorite either,” Jenkins said. “You
have to be on the lookout for everyone.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kari Lundgren in London at
klundgren2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Christopher Elser at
celser@bloomberg.net;
Will Kennedy at
wkennedy3@bloomberg.net
