The Tri Town Times: 7/26/21

• Posted on 26 July 2021
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

Inaugural 70.3 Oregon a success; Blummenfelt win's Olympic triathlon gold; Olympic drone footage; price of success quote.

- The inaugural 70.3 Oregon took place on a perfect day in Salem yesterday. A current-assisted swim acted as a 'swim equalizer': saving only a few minutes for the best of swimmers, and up to fifteen minutes for beginners. The rolling bike course took athletes through beautiful rural farms fields, and the run was a mix of scenic paved and gravel paths. I counted over 25 athletes from the Treasure Valley competing. Top performances include Kevin Rhinehart winning the PC division, David Conger taking top 5 in M18-24, Rachael Tatko winning W25-29, Amy Gonzalez taking top 5 in W40-45, and Team Tri Town of Brian Weissinger and Joe Reitan taking 3rd in the Relay Division.

- Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway overcame a bizarre false start on a hot and humid day in Tokyo to win the men's Olympic triathlon yesterday. Blummenfelt, who holds the current record for the fastest 70.3 time, had been off form in 2020, but showed promise just a month ago by winning the Olympic preview event. Kevin McDowell of the US finished in 6th place- the highest place ever in the Olympic triathlon by an American man.

- Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the Olympic road race, with Belgium Wout van Aert taking silver, and Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar taking bronze. The grueling 145 mile course had multiple climbs with a total of 16,000 feet of climbing on a hot and humid day. Carapaz won the race by making a move with American Brandon McNulty with 16 miles to go. McNulty was eventually pulled back in and finished in 6th place.

- Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria won the women's Olympic road race in dramatic fashion. She broke away from the field at the start of the race, and the field seemingly forgot she was out front. You cannot blame the main field as Kiesenhofer is not known in the pro peloton- she does not race for a professional team nor is she coached. With a background in running and triathlon, she has a Ph.D in mathematics, and she works full time at Switzerland's University of Lausanne. Drama developed when pre-race favorite Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands crossed the line in second place, believing she had won. Annemiek was not aware that Kiesenhofer finished more than a minute ahead of her. In a normal professional road race, athletes use race radios to stay in contact with team managers who provide updates on splits to riders up the road. The Olympic road race does not allow for radios, and so competitors must keep track of the field on their own.

- Burley Spudman Triathlon is this Saturday.

- Olympic Women's Triathlon will be televised today.

- Olympic Time Trial will be televised Tuesday: with the men completing two laps a course for a total of 26 miles and the women completing one lap.

- Olympic Mixed Relay Triathlon is Saturday.